Read the full judgment text of FAMC 000002/2004 on BabelCite. This FAMC judgment was delivered on 5 March 2004.
1. We will deal with sentence first. Sometimes a defendant who faces a murder charge offers to plead guilty to manslaughter. If his offer is rejected by the prosecution, he has a choice. He can fight the case on the basis that he is not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter. Or he can fight the case on the basis that he is not guilty of any homicide. There is a considerable difference between these two courses. If the defendant is convicted of manslaughter after pursuing the first course,