R. v. Saunders (1573) 2 Plowd 473

Material:

The accused, with an intention to kill his wife to enable him to marry another woman (proof that men will show you lol), gave her a poisoned apple. The wife took a small bite of the apple and, not knowing it was poisoned, gave the rest to their daughter. The accused saw her eating the apple but did not take it from her for fear of being suspected. The daughter later died from eating the poisoned apple, and the accused was charged with murder.

Issue:

Whether or not it was the accused who caused the death of the child, given that it was his wife who gave the apple to the child.

Argument of the Defendant:

That he did not have any intention to kill his daughter and could therefore not be guilty of murder.

Holding:

The accused caused the death of the child.

Ratio Decidendi:

The court applied the doctrine of transferred malice and held that the intention to cause the death of the wife can be transferred to causing the death of his death.

Since the wife did not also know that the apple was poisoned, she did not cause the death of the child.

Comment:

This is causing an event through an involuntary agent. The wife, by virtue of being ignorant of the fact that the apple was poisoned, was the involuntary agent. See section 11(1) of Act 29.

This is also a case for transferred intent. See section 11(5) of Act 29.