Court Opinion

ID: 9495854
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 16:11:51.151064+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:57:14.024753
License: Public Domain

HEANEY, Circuit Judge,
concurring.
I concur in the majority’s opinion because I agree that we are bound by Missouri’s interpretation of its battered spouse syndrome statute. It appears to me, however, that the statute does not require the narrow construction given to it by the Missouri Court of Appeals.
The state court concluded Lannert was the initial aggressor in the tragic series of events that terminated with her father’s death. The Missouri courts have determined that in such a circumstance, a defendant is not entitled to a self-defense instruction, and consequently is not permitted to present evidence of battered women’s syndrome to buttress her claim of self-defense. In light of the years of sexual abuse that Lannert and her sister endured in their father’s home, I believe it is reasonable to conclude that Lannert’s father was the true initial aggressor. At the very least, one could conclude that Lan-nert’s altered state of mind led her to believe that her father, a relentless attacker, would hurt her or her sister again, perhaps on the night of his death.
The majority appropriately notes that if Missouri’s battered spouse syndrome statute is to have any meaning at all, it must serve as a modification of the mental state required of the battered woman. State v. Williams, 787 S.W.2d 308 (Mo.Ct.App. 1990). Significantly, the Williams court *756also stated that “the syndrome creates a perception in the battered woman so that as to her the required elements [of self defense] have been met.” Id. at 312. In State v. Edwards, 60 S.W.3d 602, 615 (Mo. Ct.App.2001), the Missouri Court of Appeals explained that “if the jury believes the defendant was suffering from battered spouse syndrome, it must weigh the evidence in light of how an otherwise reasonable person who is suffering from battered spouse syndrome would have perceived and reacted in view of the prolonged history of physical abuse.” Given this line of reasoning, it would seem logical for the courts to allow a defendant to present evidence of battered women’s syndrome, even if it appears at first glance that the defendant was the initial aggressor.
The Missouri courts have determined, however, that the syndrome itself cannot serve as a defense to murder; rather, it is evidence to show the battered woman’s state of mind at the time of the offense in order to assist the jury in evaluating a claim of self-defense. State v. Pisciotta, 968 S.W.2d 185 (Mo.Ct.App.1998). In other words, a battered woman must present a viable self-defense theory before she is permitted to reveal how years of abuse led her to act in a socially unacceptable, but perhaps morally justifiable, manner. This interpretation unjustly inhibits the intended effect of the battered spouse syndrome statute because it demands that a battered woman’s actions conform to the old doctrine of self-defense.
The “absence of aggression or provocation on the part of the defender” element of the Missouri self-defense statute does not articulate a time frame during which the initial act of aggression and the act of self-defense must occur. It is therefore deeply troubling that the jury was not completely informed of the scope of the abuse Lannert suffered, her fear, or her rage that her sister may also have been victimized by their father. This evidence of battered spouse syndrome might have placed Lannert’s actions in proper context, and may have allowed a jury to conclude that Lannert was not the initial aggressor on the night of her father’s death, potentially resulting in a very different outcome than what she faces today.
Because the Missouri courts have the authority to interpret the state’s battered spouse syndrome statute, however, I reluctantly concur.