Battered Woman Syndrome

Cases:

State of Kansas v. Stewart (1988) [on-line text] [a psychological/self-defense claim when a battered spouse kills a sleeping husband]

West Virginia Cases:

State of West Virginia v. Riley, 201 W. Va. 708 (1997) [on-line text]

State of West Virginia v. Smith [on-line text]
198 W. Va. 441; 481 S.E.2d 747; 1996 W. Va. LEXIS 222 [The trial court granted the prosecution's motion in limine excluding evidence of the victim's prior violence directed toward the defendant and any reference to battered woman's syndrome. What is a motion in liminie? See: motion in limine]

State of West Virginia v. Headley [on-line text]
210 W. Va. 524; 558 S.E.2d 324; 2001 W. Va. LEXIS 149

Resource Readings:

Validity and Use of Evidence Concerning Battering and Its Effects in Criminal Trials
A report by Janet Parrish, lawyer and consultant to the National Clearinghouse for the Defense of Battered Women (NCDBW); prepared for the National Association of Women Judges for its State Justice Institute funded project,
"Family Violence and the Courts: Exploring Expert Testimony on Battered Women"

Feminism and Criminal Law: Review of Cases of Battered Incarcerated Women
Article by Professor Linda L. Ammons, Cleveland-Marshall School of Law

Battered Women Syndrome
Domestic Violence and the Courtroom, American Judges Foundation, Inc.

Why Women Stay
Women's Rural Advocacy Programs, a cooperative of Domestic Violence and Criminal Justice
Intervention programs serving southwestern Minnesota

Justificiable Homicide?
A problem posed for a philosophy course at Brandeis

Bibliography--Books:

Amy Lou Busch, Finding Their Voices: Listening to Battered Women Who've Killed (Commack, New York: Kroshka Books, 1998)

Elizabeth Comack, Feminist Engagement With the Law: The Legal Recognition of the Battered Woman Syndrome (Ottawa: Canadian Research Institute for the Advancement of Women, 1993)

Donald Alexander Downs, More Than Victims: Battered Women, the Syndrome Society, and the Law (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996)

Charles Patrick Ewing, Battered Women Who Kill: Psychological Self-Defense as Legal Justification (Lexington, Massachusetts: Lexington Books, 1987)

Caroline A. Forell & Donna M. Matthews, A Law of Her Own: The Reasonable Woman as a Measure of Man (New York: New York University Press, 2000)

Patricia Gagné, Battered Women's Justice: The Movement for Clemency and the Politics of Self-defense (New York: Twayne Publishers, 1998)

Cynthia K. Gillespie, Justifiable Homicide: Battered Women, Self-Defense, and the Law (Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 1989)

Mindy Beth Mechanic, Battered Woman Syndrome: Juror Common Understanding and Expert Testimony (Ph.D. Thesis, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champagne, 1996)

Elizabeth M. Schneider, Battered Women and Feminist Lawmaking (New Haven: Yale University Press 2000)

Shelley A. Theno, Victim-Precipitated Homicide and the Battered Woman Syndrome: Effect of Stereotype Consistency and Weapon Use on Verdict and Social Judgements (Ph.D. Thesis, University of Kansas, 1996)

Lenore E. Walker, Terrifying Love: Why Battered Women Kill and How Society Responds (New York: Harper & Row, 1989)

______________, The Battered Woman Syndrome (New York: Springer Publishing Co, 2nd ed., 2000) (1984) [a patriarchialist response]

Bibliography--Articles:

Sharon Angela Allard, Rethinking Battered Woman Syndrome: A Black Feminist Perspective, 1 UCLA Women's Law Journal 193 (1991)

Linda L. Ammons, Dealing With the Nastiness: Mixing Feminism and Criminal Law in the Review of Cases of Battered Incarcerated Women--A Tenth-Year Reflection, 4 Buff. Crim. L. R. 891 (2001)

Christine Noelle Becker, Clemency for Killers? Pardoning Battered Women who Strike Back, 29 Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review 297 (1995)

Susannah Marie Bennett, Ending the Continuous Reign of Terror: Sleeping Husbands, Battered Wives, and the Right of Self-Defense, 24 Wake Forest Law Review 959-993 (1989)

Julie Blackman, Potential Uses for Expert Testimony: Ideas Toward the Representation of Battered Women Who Kill, 9 Women's Rights Law Reporter 227 (1986)

Meredith Blake, Coerced Into Crime: The Application of Battered Woman Syndrome to the Defense of Duress, 9 Wisconsin Women's Law Journal 67 (1994)

Kathee Rebernak Brewer, Note, Missouri's New Law on 'Battered Woman Syndrome': A Moral Victory, a Partial Solution, 33 Saint Louis University Law Journal 227 (1988-89)

Joel Breyer, The Battered-woman Syndrome and the Admissibility of Expert Testimony, 28 Crim. L. Bulletin 99 (1992)

Michael A. Buda & Teresa L. Butler, The Battered Wife Syndrome: A Backdoor Assault on Domestic Violence, 23 Journal of Family Law 359-390 (1984-85)

Alafair S. Burke, Rational Actors, Self-Defense, and Duress: Making Sense, not Syndromes, Out of the Battered Woman, 81 (1) North Carolina Law Review 211-316 (2002)

A. Renee Callahan, Will the 'Real' Battered Woman Please Stand Up?  In Search of a Realistic Legal Definition of Battered Woman Syndrome, 3 American University Journal of Gender & the Law 117-152 (1994)

Rocco C. Cipparone, The Defense of Battered Women who Kill, 135 University of Pennsylvania Law Review 427-452 (1986-87)

Donald L. Creach, Notes: Partially Determined Imperfect Self-Defense: The Battered Wife Kills and Tells Why, 34 Stanford LawReview 615-638 (1981-82)

Phyllis L. Crocker, The Meaning of Equality for Battered Women Who Kill Men in Self-Defense, 8 Harvard Women's Law Journal 121- 153 (1985)

Mary Ann Dutton, Understanding Women's Responses to Domestic Violence: A Redefinition of Battered Woman Syndrome, 21 Hofstra Law Review 1191-1242 (1992)

Lorraine P. Eber, The Battered Wife's Dilemma: To Kill or to Be Killed, 32 Hastings Law Journal   895-931 (1980-81)

Charles Patrick Ewing, Psychological Self-Defense: A Proposed Justification for Battered Women Who KIll, 14 Law and Human Behavior 579-594 (1990)

David L. Faigman & Amy J. Wright, The Battered Woman Syndrome in the Age of Science, 39 Arizona Law Review 67-115 (1997)

David L. Faigman, The Battered Woman Syndrome and Self-Defense: A Legal and Empirical Dissent, 72 Virginia Law Review 619-647 (1986)

Marilyn Kasian, et. al., Battered Women Who Kill: Jury Simulation and Legal Defenses, 17(3) Law and Human Behavior 289-312 (1993)

Kit. Kinports, Defending Battered Women's Self-Defense Claims, 67 Oregon Law Review 393-465 (1988)

M. H. Lenkevich, Admitting Expert Testimony on Battered Woman Syndrome in Virginia Courts: How Peeples Changed Virginia Self-Defense Law, 6 William and Mary Journal of Women and the Law 297-321 (1999)

H.I. Levit, Battered Women: Syndrome Versus Self-Defense, 9 American Journal of Forensic Psychology 29-35 (1991)

Holly Maguigan, Battered Women and Self-Defense: Myths and Misconceptions in Current Reform Proposals, 140 University of Pennsylvania Law Review 379-486 (1991)

Martha R. Mahoney, Legal Images of Battered Women: Redefining the Issue of Separation, (1991) 90 Michigan Law Review 1-94

Mira, Mihajlovich, Does Plight Make Right: The Battered Woman Syndrome, Expert Testimony and the Law of Self-Defense, (1987) 62 Indiana Law Journal  1253-1282

Michael K. Molitor, The 'Battered Child Syndrome' as Self-Defense Evidence in Parricide Cases: Recent Developments and a Possible Approach, 40 Wayne Law Review 237-94 (1993-94)

Lauren E. Goldman, Nonconfrontational Killings and the Appropriate Use of Battered Child Syndrome Testimony: The Hazards of Subjective Self-Defense and the Merits of Partial Excuse, 45 Case W. Res. 185 (1994)

Rebecca Hudsmith, The Admissibility of Expert Testimony on Battered Woman Syndrome in Battered Women's Self-Defense Cases in Louisiana, 47 La. L. Rev. 979 (1987)

Lisa A. Linsky, Use of Domestic Violence History Evidence in the Criminal Prosecution: A Common Sense Approach, 16 Pace L. Rev. 73 (1995)

Holly Maguigan, Battered Women and Self-Defense: Myths and Misconceptions in Current Reform Proposals, 140 U.Pa. L. Rev. 379 (1991)

Martha R. Mahoney, Legal Images of Battered Women: Redefining the Issue of Separation, 90 Mich. L. Rev. 1 (1991).

Mather, The Skeleton in the Closet: The Battered Woman Syndrome, Self-Defense, and Expert Testimony, 39 Mercer L. Rev. 545 (1988)

Tobin P. Richer, Placing Proper Limits on Battered Woman Syndrome in Areas Beyond Self-Defense: An Argument Against Admission in Child Abuse and Neglect Cases, 1 DePaul J. Health Care L. 855 (1997)

Elizabeth M. Schneider, Describing and Changing: Women's Self-Defense Work and the Problem of Expert Testimony on Battering, 9 Women's Rts. L. Rep. 195 (1986)

R.F. Schopp, B.J. Sturgis, & M. Sullivan, Battered women Syndrome, Expert Testimony, and the Distinction Between Justification and Excuse, 1994 U.Ill. L. Rev. 45

R.A. Schuller & N. Vidmar, Battered woman Syndrome Evidence in the Courtroom, 18 (3) Law & Hum. Beh. 273 (1992)

Symposium: Battered Women & Feminist Lawmaking: Author Meets Readers, 10 J.L. & Pol'y 313 (2002)