''Ross v HM Advocate'

is a leading Scots criminal case that concerns automatism as

defence Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense indust ...

. The

High Court of Justiciary The High Court of Justiciary () is the supreme criminal court in Scotland. The High Court is both a trial court and a court of appeal. As a trial court, the High Court sits on circuit at Parliament House or in the adjacent former Sheriff C ...

clarified the rules for an accused to successfully argue automatism as a defence to a criminal charge.

Background

Ross had been drinking

beer Beer is an alcoholic beverage produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches from cereal grain—most commonly malted barley, although wheat, maize (corn), rice, and oats are also used. The grain is mashed to convert starch in the ...

from a can. Without his knowledge, five or six tablets of

temazepam Temazepam, sold under the brand name Restoril among others, is a medication of the benzodiazepine class which is generally used to treat severe or debilitating insomnia. It is taken by mouth. Temazepam is rapidly absorbed, and significant hypn ...

and some of

LSD Lysergic acid diethylamide, commonly known as LSD (from German ; often referred to as acid or lucy), is a semisynthetic, hallucinogenic compound derived from ergot, known for its powerful psychological effects and serotonergic activity. I ...

was put into his can. He ended up consuming the drugs alongside the beer. Thirty minutes after having consumed the drink, he started screaming and indiscriminately attacking other people with a knife. Several people were severely injured. Ross

resisted arrest ...

by the police and stopped screaming only after they had handcuffed him. He continued to struggle until he was taken to a hospital and administered a

sedative A sedative or tranquilliser is a substance that induces sedation by reducing irritability or Psychomotor agitation, excitement. They are central nervous system (CNS) Depressant, depressants and interact with brain activity, causing its decelera ...

drug. The High Court at

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

tried In law, a trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court. The tribunal, wh ...

Ross for various charges including nine counts of

assault In the terminology of law, an assault is the act of causing physical harm or consent, unwanted physical contact to another person, or, in some legal definitions, the threat or attempt to do so. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may ...

and seven counts of

attempted murder Attempted murder is a crime of attempt in various jurisdictions. Canada Section 239 of the ''Criminal Code'' makes attempted murder punishable by a maximum of life imprisonment. If a gun is used, the minimum sentence is four, five or seve ...

. The jury found Ross guilty on several of the charges but found that while he committed the offences, he had been influenced by the drugs that were administered to him without his knowledge. He has appealed against his conviction on the ground that the trial judge misdirected the jury that they could not acquit him of the charges of which he was convicted. Ross appealed the decision to the Court of Criminal Appeal. He argued that the trial judge had misdirected the jury by telling them that they could not acquit Ross of the offences, in spite of his involuntary intoxication.

Appellate decision

A five-judge bench of the Appeal Court upheld Ross' appeal and set a

precedent Precedent is a judicial decision that serves as an authority for courts when deciding subsequent identical or similar cases. Fundamental to common law legal systems, precedent operates under the principle of ''stare decisis'' ("to stand by thin ...

for successfully using automatism as a

Scots criminal law Scots criminal law relies far more heavily on common law than in England and Wales. Scottish criminal law includes offences against the person of murder, culpable homicide, rape and assault, offences against property such as theft and malicious mi ...

. The Lord Justice-General

Hope Hope is an optimistic state of mind that is based on an expectation of positive outcomes with respect to events and circumstances in one's own life, or the world at large. As a verb, Merriam-Webster defines ''hope'' as "to expect with confid ...

identified three requirements for automatism:

There must some external factor affecting the accused, and not a
mental disorder A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness, a mental health condition, or a psychiatric disability, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. A mental disorder is ...
.
That external factor must not be self-induced or foreseeable to the accused.
That external factor must result in a total alienation of reason for the accused.

Later cases suggested that the Scottish precedent established in ''Ross'' would be followed in England as well.A. P. Simester, A. T. H. Smith, ''Harm and Culpability'' (1996), p. 140, n. 35.

References

External links

Full text of opinion
from

BAILII The British and Irish Legal Information Institute (BAILII, pronounced "Bailey") provides legal information, and especially reports of cases decided by courts, in the United Kingdom generally and the Republic of Ireland. Decisions from England ...

High Court of Justiciary cases 1991 in Scotland 1991 in United Kingdom case law {{case-law-stub