Intoxication, whether voluntary or involuntary, is not a defence per se. However, where a person is intoxicated through drink or drugs and commits a crime, the level of intoxication may be such as to prevent that person from forming the necessary mens rea of the crime.
What type of defense is intoxication?
Intoxication is a defense available to defendants in criminal law cases. A defendant who raises this defense claims that he should not be held liable for a crime because his compromised mental state prevented him from forming the necessary mens rea.
Can intoxication be used as a defence?
In criminal law cases, the accused will sometimes mention that he or she was under the influence of alcohol or drugs at the time of the events. However, although voluntary intoxication is a defence recognized under the Criminal Code, it cannot be invoked in all cases.
Is intoxication a defence or excuse?
Intoxication is sometimes erroneously referred to as a criminal defence. Rather than a defence, intoxication by alcohol or drugs is a factor that can sometimes be taken into account when determining whether a person had the intent to commit an offence.
Is intoxication a defence in criminal law?
Generally, intoxication does not excuse a criminal act where the accused has the requisite intent. As it were a “drunken intent is nonetheless an intent.” This degree of intoxication negates the voluntariness of the accused’s actions and would be a complete defence to any criminal act.
How do you prove involuntary intoxication?
The common law generally recognized involuntary intoxication when any of the following conditions was met: the intoxication was coerced or the result of duress, was pathological, was caused by a substance taken pursuant to a physician’s advice, or was the result of an innocent mistake by the accused as to the Sep 1, 2015.
Is being drunk an excuse in court?
Intoxication is not an excuse for criminal conduct, but it may deprive an intoxicated person of the mental capacity to form the intent required by law to be convicted of certain crimes. This is a very complex area of law and standards differ from state to state.
Under what circumstances would a defendant be able to satisfactorily use the defense of intoxication?
If a charged crime is a specific intent crime, meaning that the criminal defendant must have had the specific intent to commit the crime in question, involuntary intoxication can be a defense to criminal charges if it prevents the defendant from forming the intent that is required.
Was daviault acquitted?
Daviault was acquitted at trial, as the judge held he was so intoxicated that he was unable to form the mens rea of the offence, but the Court of Appeal substituted a conviction.
What is the difference between voluntary and involuntary intoxication?
Voluntary intoxication can be used as a defense in specific intent crimes. This type of crime requires that the prosecution prove that the defendant acted with a specific purpose. Involuntary intoxication can be used as a defense to any crime. It is considered a complete defense.
Is self induced intoxication a defence?
33.1 (1) It is not a defence to an offence referred to in subsection (3) that the accused, by reason of self-induced intoxication, lacked the general intent or the voluntariness required to commit the offence, where the accused departed markedly from the standard of care as described in subsection (2).
What is non self induced intoxication?
8.1-A Intoxication is not self induced if it is involuntary or a result of fraud, sudden or extraordinary emergency, accident, reasonable mistake, duress or force. See note159. The catalogue of conditions which can defeat an attribution of self induced intoxication is exhaustive but generous in its amplitude.
What does intoxication mean in law?
intoxication. n. 1) the condition of being drunk as the result of drinking alcoholic beverages and/or use of narcotics. In the eyes of the law this definition may differ depending on the situation to which it is applied. 2) as it applies to drunk driving (DUI, DWI) the standard of intoxication varies by state between .
Could an intoxication Defence be successful?
Often successful Research by Canadian law professors Elizabeth Sheehy and Isabel Grant shows that when the extreme intoxication defence was available, it was successful in 30 per cent of cases. Significantly, the majority of these cases (71 per cent) involved male violence against women.
Is intoxication a defence to burglary?
Someone who is intoxicated may be able to break and enter, but may not be able to form the intent to commit a crime once inside. In such a situation, voluntary intoxication may be used as a defense to a charge of burglary.
Why isn’t intoxication a defence?
Voluntary intoxication is never a defence to a crime of basic intent. However, where the defendant has voluntarily put himself in the position of being intoxicated to the extent that he is incapable of forming the mental element of the offence, this will amount to a defence in respect of a crime of specific intent.
What are the four types of involuntary intoxication?
An involuntary intoxication defense is available where the intoxication results from: 1) fraud, trickery or duress of another; 2) accident or mistake on his own part; 3) a pathological condition; 4) ignorance as to the effects of prescribed medication.
Is involuntary intoxication a defense to DUI?
However, involuntary intoxication can be a valid defense strategy for many offenses, including a DUI.
Can you go to jail for drunk and disorderly?
Being drunk and disorderly is a summary only offence, so it can only be heard in the Magistrates Court. As being drunk and disorderly can not carry a prison sentence, it is sometimes difficult to secure Legal Aid to cover the costs of your criminal defence.
What is the Majewski rule?
DPP v Majewski [1976] UKHL 2 is a leading English criminal law case, establishing that voluntary intoxication such as by drugs or alcohol is no defence to crimes requiring only basic intent. The mens rea requirement is satisfied by the reckless behaviour of intoxicating oneself.
Is intoxication an aggravating factor?
Most sentencing factors can be classified as either aggravating (eg, use of a weapon) or mitigating (eg, a guilty plea). These factors, which we term ambiguous sentencing factors, include mental disorder, intellectual disability, intoxication and drug addiction.
When can the Defence of intoxication be used?
8.4-A Evidence of intoxication, whether or not self induced, can be considered when knowledge or belief is relevant to a defence. Most defences to criminal liability are based on the defendant’s belief that the conduct constituting the offence was necessary, justified or permissible.