Abstract
This study assesses acquital rates using mock jurors in cases involving a battered woman charged with killing her husband. The simulated trial format was based on actual courtroom proceedings including witness cross-examination and jury deliberation proceedings. The type of plea entered was varied and reflected either self-defense, automatism, or a hypothetical plea of psychological self-defense. The severity of abuse incurred by the defendant was also varied along with expert testimony. Jurors more frequently found the defendant not guilty when a plea of automatism was entered compared to a plea of self-defense. The frequency of acquittals following a plea of psychological self-defense resulted in more acquittals than the self-defense plea but significantly fewer than the automatism plea. The likelihood of acquittal increased under conditions of severe abuse as opposed to moderate abuse. Expert witness testimony was observed to influence verdicts during juror deliberations.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Anderson, N. H. (1961). Scales in statistics: Parametric and nonparametric.Psychological Bulletin, 58, 305–316.
Averill, J. (1978). Anger.Nebraska Symposium on Motivation, 26, 1–81.
Boyle, C., Bertrand, M., Lacerte-Lamontagne, C., & Shamai, R. (1985). In J. S. Russell (Ed.),A feminist review of criminal law (pp. 38–47). Ottawa: Minister of Supply and Services Canada
Brekke, N., & Borgida, E. (1988). Expert psychological testimony in rape trials: A social-cognitive analysis.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 55, 372–386.
Brodsky, D. (1987). Educating juries: The battered woman defence in Canada.Alberta Law Review, 25, 461–477.
Browne, A. (1987).When battered women kill. London: Collier Macmillan.
Chimbos, P. (1978).Marital violence: A study of interpersonal homicide. San Francisco: R. and E. Research Associates.
Dahl, P. (1985). Legal and psychiatric concepts and the use of psychiatric evidence in criminal trials.California Law Review, 73, 411–441.
Ewing, C. P. (1987).Battered women who kill. Toronto: Lexington.
Faigman, D. (1986). The battered woman syndrome and self-defense: A legal and empirical dissent.Virginia Law Review, 72, 619–647.
Fingarette, H. (1972).The meaning of criminal insanity. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Follingstad, D., Polek, D., Hause, E., Deaton, L., Bulger, M., & Conway, Z. (1989). Factors predicting verdicts in cases where battered women kill their husbands.Law and Human Behavior, 13, 253–269.
Gabora, N., Spanos, N., & Joab, A. 1993. The effects of complaintant age and expert testimony in a simulated child sexual assault trial.Law and Human Behavior, 17, 103–119.
Gillespie, C. (1989).Justifiable homicide. Columbus: Ohio State University Press.
Goetting, A. (1989). Patterns of marital homicide: A comparison of husbands and wives.Journal of Comparative Family Studies, 20, 341–354.
Greene, E., Raitz, A., & Lindblad, H. (1989). Juror's knowledge of battered women.Journal of Family Violence, 4, 105–125.
Greenspan, E. L. (1988).Martin's annual criminal code. Aurora, Ont: Canada Law Book.
Greenwald, A., Tomkins, A., Kenning, M., & Zavodny, D. (1990). Psychological self-defense jury instructions: Influence on verdicts for battered women defendants.Behavioral Sciences and the Law, 8, 171–180.
Homicide in Canada, 1988: A statistical perspective. (1989). Ottawa: Minister of Supply and Services Canada.
Jones, A. (1980).Women who kill. New York: Holt. Rinehart, and Winston.
Kieviet, T. (1978). The battered wife syndrome: A potential defense to a homicide charge.Pepperdine Law Review, 6, 213–229.
Kromsky, D., & Cutler, B. (1989). The battered women syndrome: A matter of common sense?Forensic Reports, 2, 173–186.
Leary, M. (1985). A woman, a horse, and a hickory tree: The development of expert testimony on the battered woman syndrome in homicide cases.UMKC Law Review, 53, 387–410.
Mann, C. R. (1989). Getting even? Women who kill in domestic encounters. In S. Johann & F. Osanka (Eds.),Representing battered women who kill (pp. 36–71). Springfield, IL: Thomas.
McEachern, A. (1985). On self-defence.The Advocate, 43, 305–318.
McKinnie, K. (1981). The use of expert witness testimony in defense of battered women.Colorado Law Review, 52, 587–599.
Mewett, A. W., & Manning, M. (1985).Criminal law (2cd). Toronto: Butterworths.
Morse, S. (1990). The misbegotten marriage of soft psychology and bad law.Law and Human Behavior, 14, 595–618.
O'Brien, L. (1986). Excessive self defense: A need for legislation.Criminal Law Quarterly, 25, 441–457.
Poulson, R. (1990). Mock juror attribution of criminal responsibility: Effects of race and the guilty but mentally ill (GBMI) verdict option.Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 20, 1596–1611.
R v. Bleta, 2, C.C.C., 190 (1964).
R v. Lavallee, 55, C.C.C. (3d). 97 (1991).
R v. Rabey, 37, C.C.C. (2d), 461 (1977).
R v. Sullivan, 2, W.L.R., 392 (1983).
State v. Wanrow, 88, Wash (2d), 221 (1977).
Rosen, C. (1986). The excuse of self-defense: Correcting a historical accident on behalf of battered women who kill.The American University Law Review, 36, 11–56.
Sagawa, S. (1987). A hard case for feminists:People v. Goetz. Harvard Women's Law Journal, 10, 253–273.
Saks, M., & Hastier, R. (1978).Social psychology in court. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold.
Schneider, E. (1980). Equal rights to trial for women: Sex bias in the law of self-defense.Harvard Civil Rights, 15, 623–647.
Schneider, E. (1989). Describing and changing: Women's self-defense work and the problem of expert testimony on battering. In S. Johann & F. Osanka (Eds.),Representing battered women who kill. Springfield IL: Thomas.
Schneider, E., Jordan, S., & Arguedas, C. (1981). Representation of women who defend themselves in response to physical or sexual assault. In E. Bochnak (Ed.),Women's self-defense cases. (pp. 119–143). Virginia: Michie.
Schuller, R. (1992). The impact of battered woman syndrome evidence on jury decision processes.Law and Human Behavior, 16, 597–620.
Sapnos, N., Dubreuil, S., & Gwynn. M. (in press). The effect of expert testimony concerning rape on the verdict and beliefs of mock jurors.Imagination Cognition and Personality.
Thar, A. (1982). The admissibility of expert testimony on the battered wife syndrome: An evidentiary analysis.Northwestern University Law Review, 77, 348–373.
Thyfault, R. (1984). Self-defense: Battered woman syndrome on trial.California Western Law Review.20, 485–510.
Walker, L. E. (1984).The battered woman syndrome. New York: Springer.
Wilkes-Kaas, C. (1982). The admissibility of expert testimony on the battered woman syndrome in support of a claim of self-defense.Connecticut Law Review, 15, 121–138.
Winer, B. (1962).Statistical principles in experimental designs. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Wolfgang, M. (1975).Patterns in criminal homicide. Montclair, NJ: Patterson Smith.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
About this article
Cite this article
Kasian, M., Spanos, N.P., Terrance, C.A. et al. Battered women who kill. Law Hum Behav 17, 289–312 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01044510
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01044510