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256.1 Battered Person’s Syndrome

    256.1.4 Battered Person Syndrome: Miscellaneous Issues And Defense Theories

    256.1.4.1 Battered Person Syndrome: Defense Theory To Subjective Mental State
    256.1.4.2 Battered Person Syndrome As Relevant To Heat Of Passion And Provocation
    256.1.4.3 Battered Person Syndrome As Relevant To Premeditation And Deliberation
    256.1.4.4 Battered Person Syndrome As Relevant To Defenses Of Duress, Coercion, Necessity, Choice Of Evils, Etc.
    256.1.4.5 Battered Person Syndrome: Reference To Minor Injury May Be Misleading
    256.1.4.6 Battered Person Syndrome -- Reference To Possession Of Weapon May Be Misleading
    256.1.4.7 Battered Man Syndrome
    256.1.4.8 Battered Child Syndrome
    256.1.4.9 Battered Person Syndrome: Admissibility Of Evidence Offered By Prosecution

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 VOLUME 11 - CHAPTER 256

    See FORECITE National™ 256.1 [Battered Person’s Syndrome].

FORECITE National™
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 VOLUME 11 - CHAPTER 256

    See FORECITE National™ 256.1 [Battered Person’s Syndrome].

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 VOLUME 11 - CHAPTER 256

    See FORECITE National™ 256.1 [Battered Person’s Syndrome].

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PRACTICE NOTE: In People v. Romero DEPUBLISHED (CA 1992) 10 CA4th 1150 [13 CR2d 332], the court held that battered woman syndrome evidence is admissible on the issue of credibility when it is argued that the defendant participated in the crime at the insistence of her batterer. The court observed that a rule permitting expert testimony about battered woman syndrome in a self defense case must necessarily permit such testimony in a case where duress is claimed as a defense. In both cases, the evidence is relevant to the woman's credibility and to support her testimony that she entertained a good faith objectively reasonable and honest belief that her act was necessary to prevent an imminent threat of greater harm.

OPINION AVAILABLE: To read the Romero opinion, click here. [Opinion Bank # O-136]. NOTE: The Supreme Court granted review in Romero but decided it on procedural grounds without considering the substantive battered woman syndrome issues. (People v. Romero (CA 1994) 8 C4th 728 [35 CR2d 270].)

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PRACTICE NOTE: Some pattern jury instructions suggest that there is no right to self defense against minor injury. (See e.g., MICHIGAN CRIMINAL JURY INSTRUCTIONS 7.15 [Use of Deadly Force in Self defense] ¶ 3 (ICLE, 2nd ed. 1999).) However, "[i]n determining the degree to which the injury the woman faced at the hands of her batterer was minor, a judge or jury may or may not know that abused women are exquisitely attuned to subtle actions, movements, and threats by a batterer. An action on the part of the deceased batterer which might seem minor to the judge any, because of the victim's prior conduct, alert the woman that there is much worse harm to come. Subtle actions which may not signify danger to an outsider may be known to a woman as a sign that she is in great danger." (Sarah Geraghty, "Clemency for Battered Women in Michigan: A Manual for Attorneys, Law Students and Social Workers," ACLU Michigan Battered Women's Clemency Project (Edited by Lynn B. D'Orio, J.D. and Lore A. Rogers, J.D.), October 1998, p. 35.)

    Some courts have recognized these unique perceptive abilities among survivors of battering. (See e.g., Ibn-Tamas v. U.S. (DC App. 1979) 407 A2d 626, 634-39; People v. Torres (NY 1985) 488 NYS2d 358, 362; State v. Allery (WA 1984) 682 P2d 312, 314-316.)

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PRACTICE NOTE: Some pattern instructions may refer to whether the alleged victim/deceased was armed with a weapon. Such an instruction "may prejudice battered women because batterers are often armed with potentially lethal objects which are not considered deadly weapons. Research and common sense dictate that even nonlethal objects like fists, keys, books, bottles, hot food, or ashtrays can be very threatening -- especially when the person wielding the object it significantly bigger and stronger." (Sarah Geraghty, "Clemency for Battered Women in Michigan: A Manual for Attorneys, Law Students and Social Workers," ACLU Michigan Battered Women's Clemency Project (Edited by Lynn B. D'Orio, J.D. and Lore A. Rogers, J.D.), October 1998, p. 36.)

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PRACTICE NOTE: See Commonwealth v. Kacsmar (PA 1992) 617 A2d 725, 731-32 [expert testimony on battered person syndrome should have been allowed in trial for voluntary manslaughter where defendant killed his brother who had previously battered him].

PRACTICE NOTE: A battered person may also suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. (See generally FORECITE National™ 256.7.3.18 [Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)].)

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PRACTICE NOTE: The principles relating to battered persons in general (see FORECITE National™ 256.1 [Battered Person’s Syndrome]) also apply specifically to children who have been battered. (See State v. Janes (WA 1993) 850 P2d 495, 501 [battered child syndrome evidence admissible to prove self defense].)

Annotation, Admissibility Of Evidence Of Battered Child Syndrome On Issue Of Self Defense, 22 ALR5th 787.

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PRACTICE NOTE: The defendant need not be unfairly prejudiced by prosecution's use of expert testimony on battered woman syndrome, if adequate limitations are placed on presentation thereof. (State v. Grecinger (MN 1997) 569 NW2d 189, 196-97.) For example, just as expert testifying on battered woman syndrome may not testify as to whether defendant actually suffers from the syndrome, prosecution's expert may not testify, in criminal prosecution against batterer, as to whether alleged victim actually suffers from the syndrome. (Ibid.) Moreover, when an expert is testifying for prosecution on battered woman syndrome, the expert may not suggest that the complainant was battered, was truthful, or fit the battered woman syndrome, and the expert may not express an opinion as to whether the defendant was in fact a batterer. (Ibid.)