Can a man be guilty of murder if the victim died from a heart attack?
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Can a man be guilty of murder if the victim died from a heart attack?
PORT MORESBY: A man had a heated argument with his father which escalated into a fight.
The father then collapsed and died but a post-mortem result showed that the father’s death was due to a heart attack.
A lawyer now argues that his client (the son) did not kill his father (as charged) but that the father had died due a heart attack.
Here are the details of the court proceedings as reported by The National:
Man denies killing father
By GIDEON KINDIWAA MAN who was accused of killing his father defended himself in court saying his father died of heart failure and not from any injuries sustained during an argument.
It was alleged that on July 2, 2017, Berry Ila, 42, from Kapari village in Abau, Central, had an argument with his father, Ila Putiwa, which escalated into a fight during which his father collapsed and died.
His lawyer, Francis Kuvi from Elemi Lawyers told the Waigani Committal Court that, according to the medical report, the cause of death was heart failure and not from any injuries sustained as a result of a fight with his son.
“The doctor’s report stated that the victim, who was 87, had a history of heart related problems,” Kuvi said.
“The report did not state that he died from injuries sustained from the fight with the defendant.”
Kuvi also argued that the charge was general and not specific.
He said, although Ila was charged with murder, there were different categories with different elements.
He said Ila was charged under Section 301 of the Criminal Code Act but police failed to specify whether it comes under Section 301 (a) or (b) and so the charge was defective.
“The defendant is the victim’s first born son. There is no element that shows whether he intended to cause grievous bodily harm and ended up killing him, or only argued with him and resulted in the victim dying from heart failure.”
Police prosecutor Senior Sgt Joseph Sangam said that Ila had a case to answer and should be committed to stand trial in the National Court.
“If there is little or no evidence, why should the complainants bring the matter to court?”
“They know that the defendant did something which resulted in the death of his father and the facts should be properly laid before a trial court to determine what really happened,” Sangam said.
According to the police file, it was alleged that Ila was doing laundry at their family home at Hohola Stage 3, Port Moresby, when his father got upset with him over water bills and started arguing with him.
It was alleged that on July 2, 2017, Berry Ila, 42, from Kapari village in Abau, Central, had an argument with his father, Ila Putiwa, which escalated into a fight during which his father collapsed and died.
His lawyer, Francis Kuvi from Elemi Lawyers told the Waigani Committal Court that, according to the medical report, the cause of death was heart failure and not from any injuries sustained as a result of a fight with his son.
“The doctor’s report stated that the victim, who was 87, had a history of heart related problems,” Kuvi said.
“The report did not state that he died from injuries sustained from the fight with the defendant.”
Kuvi also argued that the charge was general and not specific.
He said, although Ila was charged with murder, there were different categories with different elements.
He said Ila was charged under Section 301 of the Criminal Code Act but police failed to specify whether it comes under Section 301 (a) or (b) and so the charge was defective.
“The defendant is the victim’s first born son. There is no element that shows whether he intended to cause grievous bodily harm and ended up killing him, or only argued with him and resulted in the victim dying from heart failure.”
Police prosecutor Senior Sgt Joseph Sangam said that Ila had a case to answer and should be committed to stand trial in the National Court.
“If there is little or no evidence, why should the complainants bring the matter to court?”
“They know that the defendant did something which resulted in the death of his father and the facts should be properly laid before a trial court to determine what really happened,” Sangam said.
According to the police file, it was alleged that Ila was doing laundry at their family home at Hohola Stage 3, Port Moresby, when his father got upset with him over water bills and started arguing with him.
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