Submissions on Verdins

Edit: This later post on Verdins includes a crude breakdown of the sorts of cases where mitigation has been found and others where it hasn't.Perhaps the starkest demonstration of the point the court was trying to make about mental imprairment not being an automatic form of mitigation is Freeman v The Queen [2011] VSCA 214. …

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Reckless intoxication

Edit: Later, in R v Robazzini [2010] VSCA 8, the Court of Appeal considered argument that different drugs prevented earlier instances of drug-fueled violence as laying an adequate foundation for using voluntary pre-offence intoxication as an aggravating feature.Neave JA, 57 In my opinion his Honour correctly treated the appellant’s drug taking as an aggravating factor. …

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No general duty to rescue

We're not usually interested in discussions of negligence torts law, but this case might have implications in the Magistrates' Court. In Stuart v Kirkland-Veenstra [2009] HCA 15, the High Court considered if police officers owe a duty of care to prevent a person from committing suicide.The Victorian Court of Appeal previously held that a duty …

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Cannabis-induced psychosis isn’t mental impairment

Edit: See also DPP v Kao [2009] VSCA 273, where the Court of Appeal express their doubts [at 42] as to whether the mitigating principles in Verdins' case have any application to a psychosis resulting from the self-administration of drugs by an experienced user.In Acar v The Queen [2012] VSCA 8 the Court of Appeal …

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Cannabis-induced psychosis isn't mental impairment

Edit: See also DPP v Kao [2009] VSCA 273, where the Court of Appeal express their doubts [at 42] as to whether the mitigating principles in Verdins' case have any application to a psychosis resulting from the self-administration of drugs by an experienced user.In Acar v The Queen [2012] VSCA 8 the Court of Appeal …

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