A Mind to Murder (Inspector Adam Dalgliesh Mystery)

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At trial, if a plea of manslaughter would not be acceptable, this alternative count need not appear on the indictment for the jury. The exception would be where the prosecution concludes there is a real (rather than a fanciful) prospect of the jury finding the defendant guilty of manslaughter, and if the jury were not sure of the defendant's guilt on the charge of murder, the prosecution, after a trial for murder, would accept a guilty verdict on the charge of manslaughter i.e. not seek a re-trial for murder. The addition of an alternative count in these circumstances is therefore simply an indication about the prosecution position should the jury not convict of murder. For the role and responsibilities of the judge in this regard, see R v Foster (Mark) [2007] EWCA Crim 2869. The judge must consider whether the defence of diminished responsibility should go to the jury. First, however, a prosecutor will review the case and make clear to the court and the defence whether it is the prosecution view that there is a realistic prospect of conviction for murder or not. If there is no realistic prospect of conviction, especially if the evidence is unequivocal and uncontradicted and has plainly met each element for diminished responsibility, then a plea of manslaughter should be accepted. If there remains a realistic prospect of conviction, in the course of that review the prosecution should establish whether in its view there is or is not sufficient evidence to go to the jury for the partial defence, and make submissions accordingly, inviting the judge to withdraw the defence in appropriate cases. Of course, those sentences showcase the ability of James to see and describe the look of things. Most important, though, is what they say about Dalgliesh, a man who can, as one human being to another, put himself into the mind of a killer.

A Certain Justice (1998): Dalgliesh and Kate Miskin ( Sarah Winman) become involved in the death of criminal barrister Venetia Aldridge. Series 1, Episodes 5 & 6: A Taste for Death: Two dead bodies are discovered in a church - one is a former Member of Parliament, while the other is a local vagrant. The investigation leads Dalgliesh, DS Masterson and DS Miskin into the world of the British nobility, where everyone seems to have secrets. [35]

They meet by chance awkwardly at a Catholic church and decide to share coffee as well as some insights about the clinic and the people there. When they are done, Saxon insists on paying for her own coffee which leads Dalgliesh to thinking:

Early Monday morning, the anniversary of his wife’s death, Dalgliesh called in at a small Catholic church behind the Strand to light a candle. His wife had been Catholic. He had not shared her religion and she had died before he could begin to understand what it meant to her or what importance this fundamental different between them might have for their marriage. He had lit the first candle on the day she died out of the need for formalize an intolerable grief and, perhaps, with a childish hope of somehow comforting her spirit. This was the fourteenth candle. James, P. D. (4 September 2008). Death of an Expert Witness. Faber & Faber. ISBN 978-0-571-24685-4. The offence of child cruelty created by section 1 of the Children and Young Persons Act 1933, which carries a penalty of up to 14 years' imprisonment, deems neglect to have occurred where: Not too much to say about this one. I thought it was a solid mystery for the second book in the Adam Dalgliesh series. I just found myself getting bored after a while since it was really obvious who the murderer was (at least to me). There are some other secrets that are spilled, but other than a couple of major ones at the end, none of the rest had much to do with anything I thought. I do think the flow could have been tighter too. We just stayed too long with the suspects and I wanted to be walked through Dalgliesh's brain as he figured out the guilty party. Too bad though that this one shows how Dalgliesh was off about who done it and why. Where I got the book: audiobook on Audible. Read by Penelope Dellaporta in a terribly refined voice with a few character accentsWhile appearing eminently self-sufficient and competent, there is an element of deep uncertainty in the detective. He has been single since the death of his wife in childbirth, and he had come to the church on a private errand before bumping into Saxon: In a case where there is more than one such suspect and the section 5 offence is charged, it may in addition be appropriate to charge the suspects with murder or manslaughter. that other person was under the influence of drink or a prohibited drug at the time they went to bed Death of an Expert Witness (1983): Dalgliesh, assisted by Massingham (played by John Vine), leads the hunt for an elusive strangler in The Fens. a b Keen, Suzanne (January 2003). Romances of the Archive in Contemporary British Fiction. ISBN 9780802086846.

A Mind to Murder was adapted for television in 1995 as part of the long running Dalgliesh TV-series for Anglia Television/ITV (1983-1998) starring actor Roy Marsden as Chief Detective Inspector Adam Dalgliesh of Scotland Yard. You can watch the entire episode of the 1995 adaptation on YouTube here. NOTE: The adaptation differs considerably from the original novel. This is necessarily a more uncertain and complicated exercise. It is required because the procedural and evidential provisions mean that the decision to charge cannot take place on the basis of the suspect's likely acquittal at the close of the prosecution case. It should not be a speculative exercise. A defendant's evidence may of course theoretically take many forms. Prosecutors only need to take into account real possibilities as to the form it might take, rather than fanciful ones. This means considering each scenario on the information available at charge. Both, that the suspect may not give evidence at all, or that they give evidence in accordance with any account or other available information suggesting the nature of their defence. In the former scenario, considering what inferences appear proper to draw; in the latter, the likely challenges, strengths and weaknesses of this account. The first important responsibility is in deciding whether or not to charge murder or manslaughter. Where the evidence suggests that at the most, a suspect could only have failed to take reasonable steps to prevent the death, only the section 5 charge is appropriate. Where, however, there is evidence that the suspect could have killed the victim, a decision in accordance with the Code for Crown Prosecutors will include an objective assessment of the evidence including situations where the suspect may give evidence or not. It includes considering any defence or information the suspect has put forward, including the likely testing of that account in cross-examination by both the prosecution and any co-accused if the suspect gives evidence; and the strength of the case if the suspect did not give evidence and the proper inferences to be drawn from this.James, P. D. (17 April 2012). Cover Her Face: An Adam Dalgliesh Mystery. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-1-4516-9777-3.

Self-defence is as much a defence to murder and manslaughter as to any other offence. Assessing whether there is a realistic prospect of conviction includes an objective assessment of the evidence including the likelihood of this defence being raised and of the prosecution disproving it to the criminal standard. Duress is not available as a defence to murder or attempted murder. Prosecutors must consider the factors objectively and assess the credibility and reliability of any account provided. They may consider if there is other evidence supporting, or tending against, a suspect's account. An absence of evidence to support a suspect's account may be relevant or highly relevant to the weight to be attached to it. It may be relevant for prosecutors to consider whether the evidence to support certain factors is sufficiently close in time to the suspect's act to allow an inference that the factors remained operative at that time.

For examples of where insufficient evidence of loss of control was raised, in respect of one or more of the elements required, and so the issue was not left to the jury, see R v Gurpinar (Mustafa) [2015] EWCA Crim 178, R v Dawes, Hatter and Bowyer [2013] EWCA Crim 322, and R v Christian [2018] EWCA Crim 1344. Dalgliesh lives in an existential funk. Of course, we all do, but many of us are able to keep the confusion, dread and sorrow of life at bay. Not him, not so much. This was a better story than the first in the series. The premise was interesting and the characters were more complicated. Dalgliesh doesn't quite attain the end to his satisfaction, but even this part failure had an attraction. The story had its share of clues and some deliberate red-herrings, but since Dalglish was set on first to find the motive, it was not very difficult to guess the criminal. I'm happy to be right there. However, the plot twist which was introduced at the end was unimpressive. The author must have wanted to increase the suspense and take the readers by surprise, but it destroyed the balance so carefully maintained up to that point. The victim did not have the capacity (as defined by the Mental Capacity Act 2005) to reach an informed decision to request another to end their life;