Crime, Law and Morality

Problem David’s mother is dying of cancer. She has been suffering extreme pain for several years and, despite recent radical medical treatment, there seems little that the doctors can do to reduce her discomfort. Her advanced years make it risky to carry out further surgery; and, in any case, the cancer is too far advanced to warrant such intervention. For months now, David’s mother has begged her son to assist her in suicide. He has resisted her pressure, despite his deep distress at seeing her suffer. One afternoon when David’s mother’s doctor visits her, David overhears his mother make a similar request. The doctor replies that, despite her sympathy for the mother’s position, her ethics as a doctor prevent her from taking life. In addition, there is no law in this State which would relieve the doctor of criminal liability if she assisted in a suicide. Outline 2021-1V1 Page 9 of 86 The following day, David’s mother again begs her son to help her die. Again, David refuses. With this, she calls her son a coward and a disgrace to the memory of his dead father. Distraught, confused, and desperately wanting to silence his mother’s abuse, David lashes out with his fist and strikes his mother on the face, knocking her to the floor. Fearing that he has killed her, and in a state of blind panic, David sets fire to the room to conceal the evidence. In fact, David’s mother was only unconscious, but a later coronial inquiry revealed that she died as a result of smoke inhalation.  Should David be convicted of any homicide offence?