NCJ Number
86068
Date Published
1981
Length
15 pages
Annotation
Research on case law and evidentiary requirements in addition to education of the trial judge through pretrial briefs, offers of proof, and community witnesses provide persuasive arguments for admission of expert testimony in a self-defense trial of an abused woman.
Abstract
In self-defense cases, expert testimony helps explain the woman's state of mind at the time of homicide. The expert must have something unique to contribute to the trial, such as the ability to draw inferences from the facts of the case that a jury of lay people would not be competent to draw. To be admitted, expert testimony must meet several requirements. The subject matter of the testimony must lend itself to expertise, the expert must be qualified to give it, and the expert must have studied the subject in a manner that will justify an expert opinion. After these tests are met, the defense must overcome prosecution objections on the grounds of relevancy. Prosecutors frequently argue that general testimony regarding responses of battered women has no probative value as to the guilt or innocence of the woman on trial. The prosecutor may also claim that diagnosing the deceased as a batterer is unfair, as it is the defendant who is on trial. The prosecution may also suggest that such testimony is irrelevant because it is remote in time, raises collateral issues, and may confuse the jury. In some cases, the court will limit the expert to answering hypothetical questions encompassing the facts of the case. Forty footnotes are provided.