Liability for murder committed during resisting arrest, NSW

Essay by elephant-auUniversity, Bachelor'sA-, September 2009

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Assume the following facts are true and can be proved: Two bikie gangs are fighting over territory. The stakes are high; whoever controls access to the area also controls the drug trade and will make lots of money. The disputes between the groups (known as the Power Pedal Pushers or ‘Power’ and the Badlands Bicycle Crew or ‘Badlands’ – of course when we say ‘bikie’ we mean those dreaded and notorious push bike riders) have lead to violence. Toni is a heavy with ‘Power’. At the last rumble she was seen to fight with Carlos from Badlands. In order to gain the advantage, Toni brought her knee up, hard, into Carlos’ testicles causing him severe pain. Toni then knocked him to the ground.

The next day the ‘Power’ received a large delivery of drugs. The drugs were delivered by Toni who collected them from the importer and took them to the local McDonalds where she delivered the drugs to Power bicycle couriers for distribution.

Police heard about it and intended to conduct a raid but were late; they arrived some minutes after the Power couriers had collected the drugs and left the scene. Toni drew her gun and fired into the air in order to scare the police. Unfortunately the bullet hit a metal pole bounced off and hit Mary, an innocent bystander, who was waiting in her car in the McDonalds drive through queue. Mary was killed instantly. Expert evidence will show that the bullet hit the pole at a point about 12 metres above the ground. Toni is charged with:1. The "Indecent assault" of Carlos contrary to the Crimes Act 19002. The "Use or possession of weapon to resist arrest" contrary to the Crimes Act 19003. The murder of Mary contrary to the Crimes Act 1900Discuss Toni’s liability...