NCJ Number
149904
Journal
Trial Volume: 30 Issue: 7 Dated: (July 1994) Pages: 62,65,68-71
Date Published
1994
Length
6 pages
Annotation
This interview with the Director of the Battered Women's Justice Center at Pace University School of Law focuses on legal issues arising from domestic violence.
Abstract
The interview was conducted in the wake of the high- profile John and Lorena Bobbitt trials, and came to press just as the arrest of football star O.J. Simpson for the murder of his former wife drew renewed attention to the subject of wife abuse. The interviewee discusses the Battered Woman Syndrome, which he defines as a vehicle to allow juries to understand the context in which a battered woman acts when she kills her abuser. Other topics covered here include the incidence of spouse battering, the factors that prevent women from leaving an abusive relationship, the proclivity of courts to accept a defense based on the syndrome, and the dangers of an overreliance on defenses based on victimization. The interviewee calls for increased training for prosecutors who handle domestic violence cases and the provision of competence legal counsel to battered women.