R v Massie

(1998) 103 A Crim R 551; [1998] VSCA 82

Victorian Court of Appeal

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Interrogate

Catchwords

1. Criminal Law
2. › Incitement
3. › Incitement to murder
4. › Elements of offence
5. › Whether incitement to murder requires incitement to kill
6. › Whether direction referring to intention to kill or do grievous bodily harm constitutes misdirection
7. › Crimes Act 1958 (Vic), s 321G
1. Criminal Law
2. › Incitement
3. › Appropriate directions to jury
4. › Unnecessary complexity in jury directions
5. › Whether wholesale incorporation of statutory definition into charge desirable
6. › Crimes Act 1958 (Vic), s 321G
1. Criminal Law
2. › Evidence
3. › Depositions
4. › Use of committal deposition at trial
5. › Witness absent from jurisdiction
6. › Whether full opportunity of cross-examination
7. › Whether discretion to exclude
8. › Evidence Act 1958 (Vic), s 55AB
1. Criminal Law
2. › Stay of proceedings
3. › Absence of witness
4. › Whether stay should be granted where witness has left jurisdiction with no prospect of return

Quick Take

Incitement to murder under s.321G of the Crimes Act 1958 (Vic) requires proof that the accused incited someone to kill; a direction that murder includes causing death with intent to do grievous bodily harm is unnecessary and potentially dangerous in incitement cases. Trial judges should give simple, fact-specific directions rather than incorporating the full statutory definition. For sentencing, incitement to murder is an extremely serious offence and some cases may warrant more serious punishment than some cases of murder.