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.]

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.

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) [on-line text]

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)

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)

Leigh Goodmark, When Is a Battered Woman Not a Battered Woman? When She Fights Back [on-line text]

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)

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)

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 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)

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)