Features of the appointment of examinations in the investigation of intentional murder committed in a state of strong mental excitement

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Features of the appointment of examinations in the investigation of intentional murder committed in a state of strong mental excitement

Evgenia Matyash

investigator of the investigation department

Oleksandriyskiy RVP of the State Technical University of Ukraine

in the Kirovohrad region, police lieutenant

In cases where the investigator discovers confusing circumstances during the investigation, various examinations may be ordered. According to the current Code of Criminal Procedure of Ukraine, an expert examination is conducted by an expert at the request of a party to a criminal proceeding or by order of an investigating judge or a court, if special knowledge is required to clarify the circumstances relevant to the criminal proceeding [2]. In turn, the study of the materials of criminal proceedings proves that conducting various types of expert research provides an answer to the question of distinguishing the specified act from other qualified murders.

The general methodological principles of conducting a forensic examination during the investigation of «affective» crimes are the application of the principle of presumption of mental health and the principle of proof of conclusions. According to the first principle, a person who commits a wrongful act is presumed to be fully aware of and able to control his actions until proven otherwise. The second principle states that since the act of examination is a source of evidence, and the conclusions are evidence in criminal proceedings, they must be properly proven. That is, each conclusion should be based on specific factual data recorded in the proceedings, and not on arbitrary conclusions of the expert [4, p. 14].

The state of physiological affect can last from several seconds to several minutes, after which there is a sharp decline in emotional arousal, which is replaced by a state of devastation, severe fatigue, and a gradual awareness of what has been committed, which may be accompanied by a feeling of remorse for what has been committed, pity for the victim. Often, individuals after what they have committed, try to help the victim themselves or commit acts of self-destructive behavior.

In the doctrine of criminal law and the criminal legislation of Ukraine, the term «state of strong mental excitement» is used to denote a sudden emotional process caused by the victim's behavior, which proceeds quickly and violently and to some extent reduces a person's ability to be aware of his actions and control them. The state of strong mental agitation belongs to the circumstances mitigating the criminal punishment (clause 7, part 1, article 66 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). It is also enshrined in articles 116 (Intentional murder committed in a state of strong mental agitation), 123 (Intentional grave physical injury caused in a state of strong mental excitement) of Chapter 2 - «Crimes against life and health of a person», which in the scientific literature refers to the privileged composition of crimes, i.e. characterized by circumstances that significantly reduce the public danger, and, accordingly, the punishment of the act [ 3, p. 452].

Factors that can cause a state of strong mental excitement for both the legislator and the Plenum of the Supreme Court of Ukraine include:

violence. As such, the Plenum of the Armed Forces of Ukraine recognizes both physical (causing physical injuries or beatings) and mental (for example, a threat to cause physical, moral and psychological harm) violence as that which can lead to the emergence of a physiological affect. The main requirement for such violence, according to M. I. Melnyk and M. I. Havronyuk, there is the ability to cause a state of strong emotional excitement in a person. The authors rightly point out that the real possibility of this or that violence, systematic bullying, or serious insult causing a state of strong emotional disturbance should also be decided taking into account the circumstances of the case, such as the nature of the victim's actions, the features of the perpetrator's mental state, the nature of the victim's relationship with the perpetrator, the situation, in which violence was used or a grave insult was inflicted [1, p. 283];

grave insult, which includes «obviously indecent behavior of the victim, which especially degrades or disgraces the honor of the perpetrator or persons close to him»;

systematic bullying, which can be expressed in particularly cynical mocking, long-term mocking of a person, repeated insults; it can also manifest itself in physical violence, merciless, rude treatment of the victim, which causes him physical and mental suffering (deprivation of food, water, clothes), humiliating treatment of the victim [3, p. 283-284].

For example, 24.05.2015 around 7:00 p.m. in the village Lviv region, S. at the place of residence in the premises of the summer kitchen, during another domestic conflict with her husband, B., being in a state of strong mental agitation, caused by the latter's systematic abuse of her and her unprovoked beatings, deliberately struck the latter twice in the chest with a kitchen knife. From the conclusion of the forensic psychiatric expert, it can be seen that S. was in a state of physiological affect at the time of inflicting physical injuries on the victim, as a psychological basis for a legal conclusion about a state of strong mental agitation, which arose as a result of a gratuitous beating by a drunken victim and against the background of systematic abuse by the latter [5].

Forensic psychological examination of emotional states is associated with the detection of strong mental excitement (state of physiological affect), stress and frustration in the person who committed the crime. A qualified assessment of the emotional states of the subject is largely determined by the amount of information about the person and his behavior. It is also very important to interview witnesses, during which it becomes possible to assess how the suspect looked like before the crime and at the time of its commission, what peculiarities in his behavior were observed after what happened. Already at the first stages of investigative (search) actions, it is necessary to find out from the person under investigation:

her physical condition on the eve of the crime (presence of nervous, somatic and other diseases, chronic fatigue, insomnia, etc.);

features of the personal relationship between the suspect and the victim (presence of conflict, its cause, course, methods of resolution, etc.);

features of the relationship with the victim, presence of common acquaintances, hobbies, etc.

When appointing a forensic psychological examination of emotional states, as emphasized by V.L. Vasiliev, the investigator formulates the following typical questions in the comparison:

What are the individual and psychological characteristics of the subject?

What are the characteristics of the personal relationship between the suspect and the victim?

How could the identified personal characteristics affect the behavior of the subject in the investigated situation?

What was the psychological state of the suspect at the time of the crime?

Was the person under investigation in a state of physiological affect or in another emotional state that significantly affected his behavior? [1, p. 543-544].

Thus, the appointment of expert examinations is one of the most widespread forms of indirect use of special knowledge in the investigation of intentional murder committed in a state of strong mental excitement. In the course of their conduct, investigators find out the circumstances of the crime event, the nature of the actions of each participant in the event, as well as information of tactical importance.

Список використаних джерел

medical examination affective crime

1. Васильев В.Л. Фізіологічний афект слід відрізняти від патологічного, який розглядається як гострий короткочасний психічний розлад, що виник раптово. Юридическая психология. № 5. 2011. С. 32-37.

2. Кримінальний процесуальний кодекс України: прийнятий Верховною Радою України Законом № 4651-VI від 13.04.2012 р.; відп. за вип. В.А. Прудников. Харків: Право, 2016. 392 с.

3. Науково-практичний коментар Кримінального кодексу України / за ред. М.І. Мельника, М.І. Хавронюка. Київ: Канон: АСК, 2002. 1045 с.

4. Ілейко В.Р., Каніщев А.В., Первомайський В.Б. Методичні засади експертної діагностики короткочасних афективних станів у кримінальному процесі: методичні рекомендації. Київ, 2010. 28 с.

5. Справа № 454/1885/15-к. Архів Сокальського районного суду Львівської обл., 2015 рік.

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