The negative effects of alcohol and other substances that negatively affect the brain on the human body with its internal organs and systems have long been proven. In addition, alcohol-containing and other intoxicating substances have a strong effect on human emotions, causing a state of euphoria and permissiveness. Therefore, many crimes are committed in this state. Since the use of such drinks and other means is a voluntary act of people who are aware of the negative consequences, the commission of a crime while intoxicated is a circumstance that aggravates the guilt for what was done.
General characteristics of the crime
Intoxication is a condition that occurs due to intoxication with various types of alcohol or other neurotropic drugs, which is expressed in the combination of somatoneurological, autonomic and mental disorders.
At the first stage of intoxication, a person has a spiritual uplift in the form of euphoria, which later turns into increasing mental arousal, which subsequently entails inhibition with stunning.
According to the norms of Article 23 of the Criminal Code, committing a crime while intoxicated by alcohol or other drugs is fraught with the imposition of additional types of sanctions.
Types of human intoxication
The commission of a crime by a person in a state of intoxication considers both types of intoxication (pathological and physiological), but the 23rd article implies responsibility only for the physiological.
Physiological intoxication is the non-pathological state of temporary euphoria, which does not cause persistent, sometimes irreversible changes in the human psyche.
Physiological intoxication can be of three degrees. At the first person feels a slight psychomotor agitation and a slight decrease in mental productive activity. On the second - mental arousal with a significant deterioration in the adequate perception of reality.
At the third degree (the degree of severe intoxication) there is a strong inhibition of most functions in the body, consciousness is disturbed, reaching a coma. Severe intoxication strongly affects the reactions of human behavior, overly inhibiting the processes of the mental sphere and making it difficult to understand the social significance of their actions. In this state of intoxication, the commission of crimes occurs most often.
The pathological form of intoxication can be delirant (paranoid), which is expressed in the form of visual hallucinations, delusional ideas of persecution, and epileptoid, which is characterized by a sudden occurrence of motor excitation and the emergence of a strong causeless fear.
Signs of a pathological form of intoxication is a disorder of consciousness that qualifies in criminal law as a state of insanity. One expression of this condition is delirium tremens.
Both of these conditions can be caused by the use of alcoholic beverages, drugs or other substances of the stupefying type (for example, kerosene, gasoline, glue, acetone).
Exceptions to the Rules
There are only two exceptions to the rules:
- The commission of a crime while intoxicated is not always an aggravating circumstance. If objective grounds have been established to recognize intoxication as a mitigating circumstance (for example, based on judicial practice), it can be recognized as such.An example is the case when a minor committed a drunken crime in which he was brought under the influence of elders, or if he did not know about the effect of this substance on the body.
- Under article 264 of the Code, the commission of a crime while intoxicated is itself a qualifying attribute and does not need additional application of article 23.
Special subjects of crime
Such subjects are persons who, together with general characteristics (the nature of the physical type, age, and sanity) possess special ones. Special features include:
- floor;
- citizenship (Articles 276, 275);
- position in the service (Articles 286, 285, 290);
- family relationships (art. 157);
- the presence of a civil duty (Articles 308, 307);
- belonging to a profession (Article 124).
Each of these signs is directly fixed in a specific norm of the Code or is clarified by a logical, grammatical or systematic interpretation of a legal norm.
In addition to the fact that these entities are subject to special penalties for their acts, the state of intoxication, regardless of its form, will also qualify as an aggravating condition.
The subjective side of the crime
Like any criminal offense, the commission of a crime while intoxicated has its own subjective side, that is, a person’s conscious emotional and volitional attitude to the wrongful act committed by him and his consequences of a socially dangerous nature.
The signs of the subjective side are the motive, guilt, purpose and condition of a person in the emotional sphere.
Guilt, regardless of whether it was expressed in the form of intent or negligence, is a mandatory attribute for qualifying a criminal offense. Purpose, motive and emotional state are optional features.
Despite this, a person committing a crime in a state of intoxication (or another type of intoxication) will be considered as an important element of a person’s emotional state.
The establishment of the objective side of a criminal offense is important for the qualification of the act. When considering a person committing a crime while intoxicated, it is important to establish its type for applying the correct sanction norm. In the case of physical appearance, liability will be tightened. If we are talking about pathological intoxication, the responsibility will be expressed in the application of coercive measures of a medical type.
Differentiation of the form of guilt is also important for determining the type of punishment. Careless criminal acts entail the imposition of much less stringent sanctions than willful. Moreover, the commission of a crime while intoxicated (or intoxicated by another type) entails a toughening of punishment, regardless of the form of guilt.
Forms of guilt
The form of guilt consists of three components: psychological content, social nature and degree.
The content of the psychological type consists of an intellectual and volitional moment. The intellectual component is a person’s awareness (or non-awareness) of the danger of his act for society, as well as the failure to foresee the negative consequences or the inevitability of their onset. If we are talking about committing a crime while intoxicated, the intellectual component here can be reduced or absent altogether (if we are talking about heavy intoxication), since a person cannot adequately assess his actions and their consequences.
The concept of a volitional moment of guilt includes the desire for negative consequences (consciously assuming them or indifferent to them), as well as self-reliance in preventing them (or their non-subjective unforeseenness).As in the case of the intellectual moment, the commission of a crime while intoxicated dulls the will and awareness of the consequences.
The legislator identifies two forms of guilt: intent and negligence. The intent for various reasons is divided into types:
- Depending on the work of the intellect, direct intention and indirect are distinguished.
- According to the degree of prediction of possible consequences, intent is divided into uncertain and definite.
- Depending on the time of the formation of the criminal intent, a previously thought out, as well as a sudden one, is distinguished. Separate isolated committing crimes in a state of passion, when intent arose so suddenly that action ahead of thought.
Negligence is also divided into types: negligence and frivolity.
In the case of frivolity, a person foresaw the possibility of negative consequences, dangerous for society, due to his actions, but he hoped to prevent these consequences on his own, without having sufficient grounds for this.
In the case of negligence, the offender, committing certain actions, did not foresee that they could lead to dangerous consequences for society. Moreover, if the offender was attentive and prudent, he would have foreseen them.
Regardless of the form of guilt in the form of intent (direct or indirect) or negligence (frivolity or negligence), a state of intoxication is in any case a qualifying sign.
Types of criminal liability for a drunken murder
The most criminal act is the deprivation of a person’s life. Therefore, such a crime in a state of intoxication is extremely serious and greatly aggravates guilt.
The severity of the punishment for a murder that was committed by a drunk person is determined by the court on the basis of many factors, including the type of crime and its qualifications under the Criminal Code.
Under article 105 of the Code, committing a crime while intoxicated as an aggravating state threatens the perpetrator with a sanction in the form of imprisonment of the perpetrator of maximum for life. If the death of the victim occurred due to intentional harm to his health, and the criminal's guilt was expressed in the form of negligence, he can be sentenced to serve a fifteen-year term in prison.
When committing a crime in a state of drug intoxication (or another type of intoxication) by a juvenile delinquent from fourteen to eighteen years, the maximum penalty that he faces is ten years in a juvenile colony.
In relation to motorists, the state of intoxication is extremely aggravating. This is due to the fact that the use of high-risk means in itself imposes an increased responsibility on the owner. If he commits a crime while driving, and even while intoxicated, he bears two types of responsibility: he is deprived of his rights and deprived of his liberty for a maximum of nine years.
Commutation of punishment
In some cases, the punishment may be commuted or commuted to a suspended sentence. It depends on several factors:
- the criminal was murdered and then provoked to commit aggressive acts against the victim;
- a criminal offense is committed by a pregnant woman or a woman with young children;
- the offender is a minor;
- a criminal offense is committed in a state of insanity;
- the offender exceeded the necessary self-defense measures in response to aggressive actions on the part of the victim, this fact must be confirmed by evidence in the form of testimony of witnesses (sober), video recording or other means.
The establishment of extenuating circumstances shall be determined by the court on the basis of an expert opinion and determination of the severity of the crime committed.
Methods for determining intoxication
To establish the fact of committing a crime while intoxicated due to the use of alcohol or drugs, it is necessary to conduct a forensic medical examination. It is carried out by collecting blood samples at the scene of the crime. Blood taken from a criminal or found near a corpse is sent for analysis in a laboratory.
Based on the study of the samples taken, the medical examiner determines whether the person who committed the crime was sober or drunk. When it comes to considering accidents with the death of a person, the presence and content of alcohol in the driver is detected at the scene by a breathalyzer. In case of refusal of voluntary surrender, the offender will be escorted for a medical examination. Refusal to undergo analysis using a breathalyzer is regarded by law enforcement officials and the court as a confirmation of the state of intoxication.
The consequences of the crime
The effects of an intoxicated person are unpredictable. In some cases, people are not at all able to remember where they were the day before and what they did. In case of memory failures due to intoxication, the responsibility of the guilty person for the criminal offenses committed by him is not removed.
In some cases, people for unknown reasons pretend to be intoxicated. If, despite the negative results on checking the presence of alcohol in the blood, a person portrays a drunk, this is the same aggravating sign as a drunken state. In this regard, persons portraying alcoholics are threatened with tougher penalties, even taking into account their sober state.
Any criminal act committed by a person who, of his own free will, is intoxicated, will be regarded as a qualified crime. If we are talking about murder by a drunken citizen, drinking alcohol can bring him to life imprisonment.