Serious Assault? Or Murder?

magpie

Looking at this recent case http://www.rte.ie/news/2007/0806/spellman.html I'm surprised that the guy in question is only being charged with serious assault.

From what has been said so far the guy who was killed stepped in to stop the guy who has been charged from beating up his girlfriend. He then went back to his house, got a knife, followed the victim and stabbed him.

Given that this involves a degree of premeditation surely the charge should be murder?

Should society not be sending out the message to these people that if you use any kind of weapon that results in the death of another human, especially one who was completely innocent, that you will face the full weight of the law?

mike65

"Calling Humanties Board...."

Mike.

Hagar

Perhaps the DPP is going for the easier conviction?
I'd imagine there isn't a great deal of difference in the possible sentences anyway.

Victor

We don't know the full details, but it often happens that a holding charge is put in place as an investigation proceeds.

tritium

Agree with Victor on this one. Would expect the charge to be upgraded to murder eventually assuming its more or less as described by the OP

Dave!

The DPP would want the perp charged with murder too, so if the evidence is there, then that's the charge he'd go for.

johnnyskeleton

DaveMcG wrote:

The DPP would want the perp charged with murder too, so if the evidence is there, then that's the charge he'd go for.

To charge a person with a criminal offence, the gardai must have some evidence of all the elements of the offence. It might take a while for the gardai to get autopsy reports which might show that the deceased died as a result of the assault. If they do have some evidence that this is how the deceased died, and they also have evidence that the accused intended the deceased's death, then they can charge said person with murder.

So he may be charged with murder/manslaughter if (when) the evidence is available.

meglome

I asked the exact same question on the Legal forum. But it was closed as it's a current case.

From what I've been told the evidence needs to be built up so they charge the accused with what can easily be proved initially. In this case I would think if what we hear about this case is true the charges will upgraded at some point.

magpie

evidence that the accused intended the deceased's death

Hmm... like going home to fetch a knife, following the victim down the road and then stabbing him in the chest?

If this guy gets away with serious assault or manslaughter I'll be disgusted.

MiCr0

meglome wrote:

I asked the exact same question on the Legal forum. But it was closed as it's a current case.

From what I've been told the evidence needs to be built up so they charge the accused with what can easily be proved initially. In this case I would think if what we hear about this case is true the charges will upgraded at some point.

yep, same here