MISTAKEN IDENTITY OF THE VICTIM IN CRIMINAL LAW

Along with the drama and pathos that the trial of Oscar Pistorius brought to a multitude of South Africans, who devotedly followed the events (and dissections of events) with great dedication a few years ago, the case also highlighted and publicized a number of legal rules and doctrines. Who would have thought, for example, that the term of art dolus eventualis would emerge as the subject of such quizzical interest for so many?Other issues which emerged are no less interesting from a legal perspective, but are admittedly of much more narrow and parochial interest, being limited to those who are required to apply substantive criminal law, whether in the courts or in the classroom. One of these is the error in obiecto notion (the spelling “obiecto”, rather than “objecto” which more typically appears in the textbooks and the case law, is more correct, although, both spelling forms will be used below, as needs be). The word “notion” is carefully selected, since describing error in obiecto as a rule, has been firmly and correctly dismissed as incorrect by Snyman (Hoctor Snyman’s Criminal Law 7ed (2020) 171): “[It] is not the description of a legal rule; it merely describes a certain type of factual situation.” Burchell’s point of departure is even more stark: “[T]he so-called error in objecto rule has uncertain, dubious origins and reference to it, even as a description of a factual predicament, should be excluded from the lawyers’ lexicon”. Phelps uses the phrase “little-known principle” to describe this “factual predicament”. The author in Kemp, Walker, Palmer, Baqwa, Gevers, Leslie and Steynberg Criminal Law in South Africa 3ed (2018) 263 does not use any nomenclature when discussing the legal position arising out of this factual situation.

Mistaken identity: a new Spathiphyllum (Araceae) from Veracruz, Mexico

The genus Spathiphyllum is represented in Mexico by 11 species, four of which are registered for the state of Veracruz. As a result of the revision of material collected in Los Tuxtlas, Veracruz, in addition to a detailed review of herbarium specimens, and comparison to individuals collected at and the type locality of Spathiphyllum cochlearispathum, we determined that the Spathiphyllum species identified as S. cochlearispathum in the Gulf of Mexico corresponds to a different species, not previously designated. The new species, Spathiphyllum croatii, is described taxonomically, illustrated, and compared with S. cochlearispathum.

A shark's eye view: testing the ‘mistaken identity theory’ behind shark bites on humans

Shark bites on humans are rare but are sufficiently frequent to generate substantial public concern, which typically leads to measures to reduce their frequency. Unfortunately, we understand little about why sharks bite humans. One theory for bites occurring at the surface, e.g. on surfers, is that of mistaken identity, whereby sharks mistake humans for their typical prey (pinnipeds in the case of white sharks). This study tests the mistaken identity theory by comparing video footage of pinnipeds, humans swimming and humans paddling surfboards, from the perspective of a white shark viewing these objects from below. Videos were processed to reflect how a shark's retina would detect the visual motion and shape cues. Motion cues of humans swimming, humans paddling surfboards and pinnipeds swimming did not differ significantly. The shape of paddled surfboards and human swimmers was also similar to that of pinnipeds with their flippers abducted. The difference in shape between pinnipeds with abducted versus adducted flippers was bigger than between pinnipeds with flippers abducted and surfboards or human swimmers. From the perspective of a white shark, therefore, neither visual motion nor shape cues allow an unequivocal visual distinction between pinnipeds and humans, supporting the mistaken identity theory behind some bites.