The police have accused someone I know of murder but I can’t work out what motive there could be.
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Answer by Jo Wilson, Macleod 3085 Vic
- Motive is often referred to in TV shows and movies about crime.
- It has no legal basis in Australia.
- Motive is not an element or ingredient of the offences of murder or of manslaughter.
- Put another way whether or not a person had a motive to murder or kill another person has no bearing on their criminal responsibility.
- However the existence of motive can and does often form part of a circumstantial case (the evidence surrounding the crime).