Opinion ID: 2584893
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Assertedly Erroneous Admission of Battered Woman Syndrome Evidence

Text: As described in more detail above, Hilda Riggs testified on direct and cross-examination that she did not attempt to prevent Bowie's murder and did not abandon defendant after the murder and report the crime to the police because he physically and mentally abused her and threatened to harm her and members of her family. The prosecution also called an expert witness to testify concerning BWS, who testified in response to a hypothetical question paralleling Hilda's testimony that Hilda's actions were consistent with battered woman accommodation syndrome. Defendant objected at trial to the expert testimony on the ground that it was irrelevant. On appeal he renews this challenge to the testimony. [22] We conclude it is without merit. Defendant argues essentially that BWS testimony was not relevant in this case because he did not attack Hilda's credibility on the basis of any myths or misperceptions that the jury might have had that could have been explained by BWS evidence. He points out that it was the prosecutor who first brought up the issue of physical abuse and threats during Hilda's direct examination, and argues that the defense did not seek to exploit Hilda's failure to stop the murder or to flee from defendant afterwards. Even assuming defendant is correct in this regard, this does not mean the BWS testimony was irrelevant and inadmissible, because there is no requirement that the defendant explicitly challenge a witness's credibility on a basis that might be explained by BWS evidence before such evidence may be introduced. (8) As defendant acknowledges, expert BWS testimony is relevant to explain that it is common for people who have been physically and mentally abused to act in ways that may be difficult for a layperson to understand. ( People v. Humphrey (1996) 13 Cal.4th 1073 [56 Cal.Rptr.2d 142, 921 P.2d 1].) The use of BWS evidence in this manner is statutorily authorized by Evidence Code section 1107. (Evid. Code, § 1107 [[i]n a criminal action, expert testimony is admissible by either the prosecution or the defense regarding intimate partner battering and its effects, including the nature and effect of physical, emotional, or mental abuse on the beliefs, perceptions, or behavior of victims of domestic violence ...].) The relevance of this evidence is based on the possibility that the jurors will doubt that a witness who claims to have been abused has indeed acted in the manner to which he or she testified, and therefore the jurors might unjustifiably develop a negative view of the witness's credibility. ( People v. Brown (2004) 33 Cal.4th 892, 906-908 [16 Cal.Rptr.3d 447, 94 P.3d 574].) Even if the defendant never expressly contests the witness's credibility along these lines, there is nothing preventing the jury from ultimately finding in its deliberations that the witness was not credible, based on misconceptions that could have been dispelled by BWS evidence. Thus, there is no need for the defendant first to bring up the potential inconsistency between a witness's actions and his or her testimony before the prosecution is entitled to attempt to dispel any misperceptions the jurors may hold by introducing BWS evidence, provided, of course, that there is an adequate foundation for a finding that the witness has been affected by BWS. ( People v. Patino (1994) 26 Cal.App.4th 1737, 1745 [32 Cal.Rptr.2d 345].) (9) In the present case, there was an adequate foundation and the BWS evidence was highly relevant, regardless of how defendant actually sought to challenge Hilda's testimony. In the absence of the BWS evidence, the jury might have discredited Hilda's testimony based upon a misconception that anyone who was physically and mentally abused in the severe manner to which she testified would not have remained in a relationship with her abuser, even when he was incarcerated in a different state from where she was residing. Moreover, the BWS evidence was especially relevant in the present case because, while Hilda accused defendant of having shot Bowie, defendant in his statements to the police said that it was Hilda who committed the murder. In addition, as it turned out, defendant ultimately presented an alibi defense, appearing to shift the entire blame for the crime to Hilda and Robert Beverly. Without expert testimony explaining that an abused person's failure to act to prevent a crime by her abuser and her subsequent failure to leave the perpetrator and report the crime is consistent with a psychological syndrome caused by the abuse, the jury might have mistakenly believed the only reasonable explanation for Hilda's failure to do these things was that defendant's statements to the police and his defense at trial were truein other words, that Hilda did not prevent the crime or leave defendant and report it because she, in fact, was the murderer. For these reasons, the trial court did not abuse its discretion in finding the BWS evidence was relevant.