Burns v. The Queen
Case No.
S46/2012
Case Information
Lower Court Judgment
1/04/2011 Supreme Court of New South Wales (Court of Criminal Appeal) (McClellan CJ at CL, Schmidt J, Howie J)
Catchwords
Criminal law — Homicide — Manslaughter — Involuntary manslaughter — Criminal negligence — Duty of care to deceased — Existence of duty of care — Applicant the supplier of illicit drug to victim — Victim died after consuming an illicit drug at the applicant's premises — Victim had consumed two different types of drug — One type of drug was medication consumed by the victim prior to attending the applicant's premises — Victim refused an offer by the applicant's husband to call an ambulance — Whether the circumstances were capable of giving rise to a duty of care — Whether the trial judge's directions as to the existence of a duty of care were erroneous — Whether the trial judge's directions as to causation were erroneous — Whether causation could be established on either limb of involuntary manslaughter where a person by his or her own act voluntarily consumes the substance that is a substantial cause of his or her death.
Documents
10/02/2012 Hearing (SLA, Sydney)
21/02/2012 Notice of appeal
09/03/2012 Written submissions (Appellant)
09/03/2012 Chronology (Appellant)
30/03/2012 Written submissions (Respondent)
17/04/2012 Reply
02/05/2012 Hearing (Full Court, Canberra)
03/05/2012 Hearing (Full Court, Canberra)
20/06/2012 Pronouncement of orders (Full Court, Canberra)
14/09/2012 Judgment (Judgment summary)