THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTtt WALES

SEMESTER 2 2013 EXAMINATIONS

LAWS1022/JURD7122: CRIMINAL LAWS

1. TIME ALLOWED-3 hours

2. READING TIME -10 minutes
3. THIS EXAMINATION PAPER HAS 4 PAGES
4. TOTAL NUMBER OF QUESTIONS - 2 (You should answer Part 1, and choose one question from Part 2)
5. ANSWER EACH QUESTION IN A SEPARATE BOOKLET
6. TOTAL MARKSAVAILABLE-60
7. EACH QUESTION HAS EQUAL MARKS
8. ALL ANSWERS MUST BE WRITTEN IN INK.
9. THIS PAPER MAY BE RETAINED BY CANDIDATE
10. CANDIDATES MAY BRING TO THE EXAMINATION ANY PRINTED OR HANDWRITTEN MATERIALS
11. ALL FACTS TAKE PLACE IN NSW.

PART ONE-Worth 30 marks

This question is compulsory.

Read the facts below and answer the questions at the end.

Walter, Skylar and Hank are good friends who study together at university, and who regularly play
Dungeons and Dragons (D&D), a role-playing fantasy adventure game. Hank harbours romantic
feelings for Skylar, but has not disclosed these to anyone.

One afternoon, the three gather at Skylar's parents house. Skylar's mother is not fond of Walter and
Hank, who she regards as having poor manners and who she suspects of using drugs. She also
suspects them of having stolen a commemorative spoon from her collection, which she proudly
displays in a case near the front door. When Skylar is out of the room, Walter says to Hank, "Hey,
let's steal one of those damn spoons for real". Hank laughs and says, "Great idea. I would love to see
the look on her face". Then Hank notices two fifty-dollar notes on a nearby table with a note on top
that says For Gus, with thanks. "Hey, look what we have here!" says Hank, motioning to the money.
Do you think I should?" "Totally I" says Walter, ''Too easy! We can use the money to buy something
to drink for the weekend. Go on!" Hank pockets the two notes quickly, just as Skylar returns to the
room. "What are you looking so guilty about?" she asks Hank. "Nothing!" WaJter quickly chimes in.
"Just talking about venues for the D&D game on Saturday night".

That Saturday night, Walter picks up his two friends and they drive to an abandoned Chicken Factory
to play D&D. Hank brings along a bottle of vodka and each of them has one shot of vodka prior to
beginning. Hank has resolved that tonight is the night he is going to tell Skylar how he feels about
her, so he has already had several shots just prior to arriving, to help with the nerves he is feeling.

The trio roll the dice and the game begins. Hank and Skylar depart together down a dark corridor in
search of a powerful wizard. The walls have sharp protrusions coming out of them from incomplete
removal of steel machinery when the factory closed down. Buoyed by the darkness, the alcohol and
Skylar's proximity, Hank leans towards her and whispers in her ear, "I have been waiting to do this
for ages" and places a hand on her buttocks. Skylar, who is not interested in men and feeling edgy as
a result of this tense moment in the D&D scenario, stumbles sharply backwards in alarm and is
impaled through her neck on a particularly sharp stake protruding from the wall.

Responding to Hank's screams, Walter hurries to the scene. He observes Hank tugging at Skylar from
her position on the wall, and, thinking that Hank is trying to hurt her, shoulder charges Hank, who
loses several fingers on his right hand, which are sliced off when he extends his hand to the wall to
break his fall.

In the meantime, Skylar has come away from the wall and is bleeding profusely from the neck .. The
men carry her to the car park. Walter says, "I don't want all this blood in my car! Then they'll think
that it was me who did something wrong!" He observes a nearby van with the keys in the ignition,
and the three climb into that vehicle, which Walter drives to the nearest hospital.

On arrival at the hospital, a triage team race out to lift Skylar onto a stretcher. They lift her onto one
side but the stretcher flips and she falls to the floor. The second attempt is successful but on the way
to the Emergency Department one side of the bed rail collapses and she is dropped to the floor once
again. She sustains a broken leg and 2 broken ribs as a result. She dies soon afterwards from
excessive blood loss.

1. What offences can Hank be charged with? For each offence, specify what are the
Prosecution's prospects of success. (14 MARKS)
2. What offences can Walter be charged with? For each offence, specify what are the
Prosecution's prospects of success. ( 10 MARKS)

It turns out that at the time of these events, Hank was on bail for stealing chocolate bars from a
7Eleven Store. He is also a boy scout leader and regularly volunteers at his church soup kitchen. Until
he was 12, he was raised in a remote Indigenous community in the North West of New South Wales
by his grandmother. His parents suffered alcohol addiction.

3. Set out and evaluate the aggravating and mitigating factors that a sentencing judge
would take into account if Hank were found guilty of any of the offences for which
he is charged (6 MARKS).

****

PART 2 Worth 30 marks

This section has internal choice. Only choose ONE of the following questions to answer.

QUESTION 2

The defence of diminished responsibility (now called substantial impairment in NSW) was
considered in 1953 by the Royal Commission on Capital Punishment in England on the following
basis:

It must be accepted that there is no sharp dividing line between sanity and insanity, but that
the two extremes of 'sanity' and 'insanity' shade into one another by imperceptible
gradations. The degree of individual responsibility varies equally widely; no clear boundary
can be drawn between responsibility and irresponsibility.

To what extent does this statement accurately reflect the rationale for the retention of
this defence in NSW? In your answer, you should discuss the competing arguments for the
abolition and retention of the defence, citing relevant authority where appropriate.

OR

QUESTION 3

"Extending criminal liability to those individuals ... who agree to commit criminal acts, or to those
who are present when others commit offences swings the pendulum too far in favour of the
interests of the state. These types of extensions represent a shift towards a society where the
interests of the individual are continually being eroded".

Discuss, with reference to Complicity and Conspiracy.

END OF PAPER