Court Opinion

ID: 9546280
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 17:26:45.725792+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:16:13.167432
License: Public Domain

NEWMAN, J.,
concurring.
Expert testimony describing the battered spouse syndrome could have assisted the jury to determine if defendant acted in self-defense under a reasonable belief that her husband was about to use unlawful deadly physical force against her. See OEC 702; ORS 161.219. It could have provided the jury with a framework within which to understand the evidence and determine the facts.
The trial court, however, properly rejected testimony of defendant’s witness describing the “battered spouse syndrome,” because that witness did not qualify as an expert. The trial court, therefore, did not clearly decide if expert testimony regarding the battered spouse syndrome is admissible as relevant to a self-defense claim. I understand the majority opinion to mean that testimony of a qualified expert witness on the battered wife syndrome may indeed be relevant to a claim of self-defense. I agree.
The majority describes the battered spouse syndrome:
“[T]he battered spouse syndrome is a descriptive phrase denoting a rather complex psychological phenomenon. The writings on the subject, as testified to in the offer of proof, are a result of extensive studies of spousal abuse cases. The studies conclude that spousal abuse follows certain form and that there are predictable behavior patterns, often leading to defensive responses by the abused victim, including attempts *461to harm or kill the abusive spouse. Authorities on the syndrome conclude that the victim’s response should be considered a defensive action to a predictable resumption of the abuse, even if there is no overt conduct from the abusive spouse at the time the victim takes action.” 72 Or App at 458-59.
State v. Kelly, 97 NJ 178, 478 A2d 364 (1984), extensively discussed the syndrome and the professional literature concerning it. The court held that
“based on the limited record before us (the State not having had a full opportunity to prove the contrary), * * * the battered-woman’s syndrome is an appropriate subject for expert testimony; that the experts’ conclusions, despite the relative newness of the field, are sufficiently reliable under New Jersey’s standards for scientific testimony; and that defendant’s expert was sufficiently qualified. Accordingly, we reverse and remand for a new trial. If on retrial after a full examination of these issues the evidence continues to support these conclusions, the expert’s testimony on the battered-woman’s syndrome shall be admitted as relevant to the honesty and reasonableness of defendant’s belief that deadly force was necessary to protect her against death or serious bodily harm.” 97 NJ at 187.
Chief Justice Wilentz, writing for the court, described the attributes of the syndrome:
“As the problem of battered women has begun to receive more attention, sociologists and psychologists have begun to focus on the effects a sustained pattern of physical and psychological abuse can have on a woman. The effects of such abuse are what some scientific observers have termed ‘the battered-woman’s syndrome,’ a series of common characteristics that appear in women who are abused physically and psychologically over an extended period of time by the dominant male figure in their lives. Dr. Lenore Walker, a prominent writer on the battered-woman’s syndrome, defines the battered woman as one who is repeatedly subjected to any forceful physical or psychological behavior by a man in order to coerce her to do something he wants her to do without concern for her rights. Battered women include wives or women in any form of intimate relationship with men. Furthermore, in order to be classified as a battered woman, the couple must go through the battering cycle at least twice. Any woman may find herself in an abusive relationship with a man *462once. If it occurs a second time, and she remains in the situation, she is defined as a battered woman.
“According to Dr. Walker, relationships characterized by physical abuse tend to develop battering cycles. Violent behavior directed at the woman occurs in three distinct and repetitive stages that vary both in duration and intensity, depending on the individuals involved.” 97 NJ at 192.
The court described the three phases of the battering cycle: (1) tension building, (2) acute battering and (3) extreme contrition and loving behavior on the part of the battering male. It commented that the cyclical nature of battering behavior helps explain why more women do not leave their abusers. Some women perceive the battering cycle as normal; others become demoralized, because they cannot predict or control the violence, and sink into a state of psychological paralysis; others lack independent financial resources to extricate themselves and often feel isolated from people who might help; and some fear reprisal from their mates if they try to leave.
“The combination of all these symptoms — resulting from sustained psychological and physical trauma compounded by aggravating social and economic factors — constitutes the battered-woman’s syndrome. Only by understanding these unique pressures that force battered women to remain with their mates, despite their long-standing and reasonable fear of severe bodily harm and the isolation that being a battered woman creates, can a battered woman’s state of mind be accurately and fairly understood.” 97 NJ at 196.
The court then stated that expert testimony on the battered-woman’s syndrome is relevant to whether the defendant reasonably believed that deadly force was necessary to prevent death or serious bodily harm. In Kelly, the defendant claimed that she stabbed her husband in self-defense, believing that he was about to kill her. The expert’s testimony, if accepted by the jury, would have helped it to determine whether, under the circumstances, a reasonable person would have believed that there was imminent danger to her life:
“The crucial issue of fact on which this expert’s testimony would bear is why, given such allegedly severe and constant beatings, combined with threats to kill, defendant had not long ago left decedent. Whether raised by the prosecutor as a factual issue or not, our own common knowledge tells us that *463most of us, including the ordinary juror, would ask himself or herself just such a question. And our knowledge is bolstered by the experts’ knowledge, for the experts point out that one of the common myths, apparently believed by most people, is that battered wives are free to leave. To some, this misconception is followed by the observation that the battered wife is masochistic, proven by her refusal to leave despite the severe beatings; to others, however, the fact that the battered wife' stays on unquestionably suggests that the ‘beatings’ could not have been too bad for if they had been, she certainly would have left. The expert could clear up these myths, by explaining that one of the common characteristics of a battered wife is her inability to leave despite such constant beatings; her ‘learned helplessness’; her lack of anywhere to go; her feeling that if she tried to leave, she would be subjected to even more merciless treatment; her belief in the omnipotence of her battering husband; and sometimes her hope that her husband will change his ways.
* * * *
“What the expert could state was that defendant had the battered-woman’s syndrome, and could explain that syndrome in detail, relating its characteristics to defendant, but only to enable the jury better to determine the honesty and reasonableness of defendant’s belief. Depending on its content, the expert’s testimony might also enable the jury to find that the battered wife, because of the prior beatings, numerous beatings, as often as once a week, for seven years, from the day they were married to the day he died, is particularly able to predict accurately the likely extent of violence in any attack on her. That conclusion could significantly affect the jury’s evaluation of the reasonableness of defendant’s fear for her life.” 97 NJ at 205.
Numerous psychiatrists, psychologists and social workers now consider the battered spouse syndrome an accepted basis for identification, counseling and treatment. I suggest that there is now authoritative literature and persuasive judicial opinion to support the conclusion that the battered spouse syndrome has general acceptance in the field. See also State v. Kelly, supra, 97 NJ at 220 (Handler, J., concurring and dissenting). If a witness qualifies as an expert and a sufficient foundation is laid, evidence of the battered spouse syndrome should be admissible. See OEC 401 and 702; State v. Brown, 297 Or 404, 417, 687 P2d 751 (1984).
If expert testimony on the battered spouse syndrome *464had been admitted here, then the testimony of defendant’s counselor regarding events seven months before defendant shot the victim would not have been too remote. It would have tended to show a history and pattern of abuse that supports the existence of the syndrome. Defendant could also have examined her husband about those other events, if she had called him as a witness in her defense.1 Here, however, regardless of the order of proof, defendant failed to offer competent evidence describing the battered spouse syndrome that would have supported the admissiblity of evidence of those events.

 Defendant’s cross-examination of her husband went beyond the scope of the state’s direct examination and was properly limited.