Court of Criminal Appeal
| Published date | 01 July 1962 |
| DOI | 10.1177/002201836202600304 |
| Date | 01 July 1962 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
Court of
Criminal
Appeal
WHEN
MEDICAL EVIDENCE
CONFLICTS:
JURY TO DECIDE
R. v. Jennion
WHEN a question of insanity or diminished responsibility
is in issue
"it
still remains
the
law of this country that,
as
Lord
Goddard, C.}. has said,
'it
is for the
jury
and not for
medical men of whatever eminence to determine
the
issue'
(R. v. Rivett (1950) 34 Cr. App. R. 87)".This is stated in
the
judgment
of
the
Court (Edmund Davies, Megaw and
Thomp-
son,
JJ.)
in R. v. Jennion (1962, 1 W.L.R.317).
The
applicant for leave to appeal was charged with non-
capital
murder
of her aunt.
Her
defence was diminished
responsibility
under
s. 2 of
the
Homicide Act, 1957, and
evidence was given by two doctors that, at
the
time of
the
killing, she was suffering from such abnormality of mind as
substantially impaired her mental responsibility for
her
act.
Evidence was given for
the
Crown by one doctor
that
in his
view, while she was suffering from an abnormality of
the
mind
and was a mildly psychopathic personality,
that
was not such
as substantially to impair her mental responsibility.
The
trial
judge, having directed
the
jury
as to the burden of proof
under
s. 2 of
the
Act of 1957, referred to
the
views of each of
the
witnesses on
that
issue and said
that
it was for
the
jury
to
decide "eventhough
the
doctors disagree".
The
jury
convicted
the
applicant of non-capital murder.
The
application for leave
to appeal
out
of time and for leave to appeal against conviction
was dismissed.
The
Court said
that
no summing-up could
have been fairer;
the
issue of mental responsibility was left
fairly and squarely to
the
jury
after a proper direction and,
having seen and heard all
the
witnesses, both lay and medical,
they arrived at a conclusion adverse to
the
applicant.
The
Court concluded by saying
that
"where, as in
the
present case, medical men differ, it is to
the
jury, after aproper
direction by
the
judge,
that
by
the
law of this country,
the
decision is entrusted".
The
decision at which this
jury
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