Natalie Burns v The Queen [2012] HCA 35: Manslaughter by criminal negligence

On 14 September 2012 the High Court published reasons for its decision in Burns v R [2012] HCA 35 where on 20 June 2012, it had allowed an appeal by the appellant against her conviction for manslaughter, quashing her conviction and directing that a verdict of acquittal be entered. 

Facts

With her husband the appellant was a participant in a methadone programme conducted by a Sydney clinic. The appellant and her husband had made a business out of selling some of their methadone to friends and acquaintances and on one occasion had supplied it to the deceased. The deceased’s body was later discovered in a toilet block at the rear of the appellant’s unit.  The deceased had died as a result of using a prescription drug combined with the methadone provided by the appellant. Subsequently the appellant was convicted of manslaughter in the District Court of NSW. 

At Trial

The prosecution case at trial that either the appellant:

• was a party to a joint criminal enterprise with her husband to supply methadone to the deceased and that the supply of methadone was an unlawful and dangerous act which caused the deceased's death, or alternatively;

• failed to seek medical attention for the deceased and thus was grossly negligent causing his death.

On Appeal

The appellant eventually appealed to the High Court who allowed the appeal because the supply of methadone to the deceased without more was not a dangerous act that was capable of supporting the appellant's conviction for unlawful and dangerous act manslaughter. 

The Court further held that the appellant was not under a legal duty to take steps to preserve the deceased's life and a majority held that the evidence given at the trial was not capable of establishing the appellant's complicity in injecting, or assisting to inject, the deceased with the drug. 

As a result of the findings, the majority of the Court declined to order a new trial and made orders quashing the appellant's conviction and entering a verdict of acquittal. 

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