Reg v Govinda (1876)
Facts.
The accused knocked down his wife and struck her; she died of the injuries. The question was whether it was murder or culpable homicide.
Issue.
How is culpable homicide distinguished from murder?
Held.
Melvill J’s classic analysis: the difference lies in the degree of probability of death intended or known. On the facts — injury likely but not sufficient in the ordinary course of nature to cause death — it was culpable homicide, not murder.
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