If one uses a motor vehicle to deliberately run down another then if one uses the motor vehicle, could the driver have committed the offence of murder, attempted murder or criminal negligence causing death?
Alberta, Canada
The following excerpt is from Devlin v. Co-operative Fire and Casualty Company, 1977 CanLII 568 (AB QB):
On the other hand, if one uses a motor vehicle to deliberately run down another then, depending upon the circumstances, the driver may have committed the offence of murder, attempted murder, criminal negligence causing death, criminal negligence causing bodily harm or an assault causing bodily harm. Each of these offences requires proof of mens rea, but whether the intent required to be proved is specific or general does not matter here. In Lundy v. Lundy (1895), 1895 CanLII 19 (SCC), 24 S.C.R. 650, the court held that whether the crime was murder or manslaughter did not matter in the civil action for indemnity so the distinction between specific and general intent is not material.
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