The Battered Woman Syndrome And Criminal Law — страница 2

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abusers. In this phase, the man apologizes repeatedly and promises to never hurt the woman again. After all the phases are complete, the woman believes her partner and the cycle of violence repeats again (Dubin pg. 9). Dr. Walker’s research paved the way for a wider acceptance of BWS, and brought a new level of clarity to the courtrooms that were dealing with this complex syndrome. In 1979, Dr. Walker produced important testimony in the case of Ibn-Tamas v. U.S. This federal appellate court, located in the District of Columbia, was the first to hear testimony on Battered Women’s Syndrome. The appellate court remanded the case to a lower court, deciding that BWS had to be considered if it could help explain the defendant’s perception of danger. Although the lower court did

not admit BWS testimony, the appellate court’s decision provided the first step for accepting the syndrome in future cases (Downs pg. 77). Dr. Walker released her book The Battered Woman in 1979 and continued to conduct her research on battered women. Although much progress was made during the late 1970’s, BWS was still given little support in the courts during the early 1980’s. In the 1981 case of Buhrle v. Wyoming, the Supreme Court of Wyoming held that the BWS concept was inadmissible in court. The reasons given by the court for the holding were that BWS was not a developed theory at that time, and it attracted female advocates who were interested turning a profit for their services (Downs pg. 77). Even though BWS advocates made great advancements to get the syndrome

into the courthouse, they had failed to keep it inside the courtroom. The research done by psychologists during the 1970’s, and early 1980’s, showed an increasing number of women who suffered from BWS. Although domestic abuse in America was an issue during this time period, it was not given much attention by the government. Once the FBI began to look at their data more closely, they saw a startling number of spousal murders occurring in the U.S. In 1984, spousal abuse caused the deaths of some 1,300 women. The number rose to 1,530 in 1993, and showed a substantial increase in women being murdered by their husbands’ (Downs pgs. 53-54). Statistical data has proven that more women are being battered and killed by their husbands every year. Since domestic abuse is on the rise,

many women are choosing to defend themselves from continuous and unlawful abuse by their husband’s. Part II: BATTERED WOMEN’S SYNDROME INSIDE THE COURTROOM The women in the following three cases, although different in many aspects, used the battered women’s syndrome theory at some part in their trials. These cases were chosen and analyzed to show the different affects that battered women’s syndrome has on the verdicts rendered by our present court system. The resulting verdicts in these cases depend upon the defendant’s actions, expert testimony, and the courts’ instruction to the jury on defenses. Case #1- State v. VanSickle On November 14, 1994, the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas found the defendant Tracy VanSickle guilty of voluntary manslaughter, a firearm

violation, and abuse of a corpse. VanSickle was sentenced to serve seven to twenty-five years for the manslaughter charge, three years for the firearm violation, and one and one-half years for the abuse of a corpse. The issues appealed by the defendant pertain to the burden of establishing oneself as a battered woman, while proving the elements of self-defense. Appellant argues that the trial court erred, because of the testimony supporting her actions and the courts initial finding that she was a battered woman. The 10th district Ohio Appellate Court reviewed the case (State v. VanSickle pg. 1). Dr. Lenore Walker gave expert testimony at the trial court stating that the appellant did suffer from the Battered Woman Syndrome. Dr. Walker also testified that the appellant possessed

a reasonable belief of great bodily harm at the time of the shooting. The appellant was found to be a battered woman by the trial court but was not found to be suffering from the actual syndrome. The appellant’s actions of trying to conceal the body, and other witness testimony claiming that the she had planned to kill her husband before hand, caused the appellate court to find numerous inconsistencies in the testimony given at the trial court. The appellate court also found that the appellant and Dr. Walker were the only ones supporting the claim that the defendant had acted out of an honest belief of imminent danger. The appellate court stated that the jury did not error by giving credibility to the opposing witnesses and affirmed the trial court’s decision (State v.