NCJ Number
104606
Journal
Suffolk University Law Review Volume: 19 Issue: 4 Dated: (Winter 1985) Pages: 877-905
Date Published
1985
Length
29 pages
Annotation
Expert testimony on the battered woman syndrome should be admissible in spousal homicide cases under certain conditions.
Abstract
The battered woman syndrome is a recently developed profile of abused women derived from case studies conducted by clinical psychologists. Attorneys representing battered women charged with spousal homicide have begun to introduce expert testimony on this syndrome to show that the defendant's actions comported with the legal requirements for a self-defense claim. Courts are divided over whether the testimony is admissible under the various evidentiary standards for expert scientific testimony. The courts differ over the relevance and potential prejudicial impact of the testimony, whether it concerns matters beyond the ken of the jury, and whether scientists generally accept the syndrome as reliable (the Frye test). Expert testimony on the battered woman syndrome does comply with evidentiary requirements and should be admissible, provided there is threshold evidence of an abusive relationship and of circumstances under which the defendant may have held a reasonable belief in the need to use deadly force in self-defense. 144 footnotes. (Author abstract modified)