Domestic Violence & The Criminal Justice System
The Shocking Truth...
(Source: http://www.thehotline.org/is-this-abuse/abuse-defined/)
You be the Judge...
Battered Person Syndrome
Law Enforcement
DISCUSSION: What do you think of the Battered Person defense? Should there be a self-defense claim? Do you think that people should be charged with murder/manslaughter/assult if they kill/injure their abuser?
- Intimate partner violence accounts for 15% of all violent crimes.
- The presence of a gun in a domestic violence situation increases the risk of homicide by 500%.
- 19% of intimate partner violence involves a weapon.
- 1 in 3 female murder victims and 1 in 20 male murder victims are killed by an intimate partner.
- 72% of all murder suicides are perpetrated by intimate partners.
Alex slept with Lauren’s husband. Lauren did not witness the event, but Alex takes every opportunity to remind Lauren that it occurred, mocking her ceaselessly. One day, after some particularly cruel taunting, Lauren decides she can’t take it anymore. She immediately pulls out her gun (which she always carries with her) and shoots, killing Alex. Is Lauren entitled to a heat of passion defense?
Definition:
- BPS was orginally Batter Woman's Syndrome (BWS).
- BPS is a subcategory of post-traumatic stress disorder, "involving thoughts, feelings, and actions that logically follow a frightening experience that one expects could be repeated."
- Theory of learned helplessness & Cycle Theory of Violence
- The cycle includes a tension-building phase, an acute battering incident, and a period of loving contrition or absence of tension. This pattern leads the battered person to believe they are unable to help themselves, that others cannot help them, and that the batterer might in fact reform.
- DV calls are one of the most dangerous calls that law enforcement responds to.
- Between 2010-2014, 22% of "line of duty" deaths occured while responding to a domestic dispute.
(Source: http://www.nleomf.org/programs/cops/cops-report.html)
- State laws take one of three approaches to domestic violence cases:
- *Arrest is mandatory.
- Arrest is preferred.
- Arrest is at the officer's discretion.
- Factors: Previous DV history, Criminal History, How many times they've been called for the same partners, the alleged incident, etc.
(Source: https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/222679.pdf)
(Sources: http://www.thehotline.org/resources/statistics/ and https://ncadv.org/assets/2497/domestic_violence.pdf)
Source: http://law.wustl.edu/COURSES/INAZU/crimlaw/homicide/unit-17-heat-of-passion-manslaughter/
Source: Textbook
Domestic violence is a pattern of abusive behavior in any relationship that is used by one partner to gain or maintain power and control over another intimate partner.
Signs of Abuse:
(Source: https://www.justice.gov/ovw/domestic-violence)
- Controls every penny spent in the household.
- Prevents you from making your own decisions.
- Threatens to kill you or intimidates you with guns, knives, or other weapons.
- Tells you that you are a bad parent or threatens to harm or take away your children.
- Controls who you see, where you go, what you do.
- Shows extreme jealousy of your friends and time spent away.
- Insults, demeans, or shames you with put-downs
DISCUSSION: What do about arrest laws when there is a domestic disturbance? Do you think one approach is better than another?
(Source: http://www.thehotline.org/is-this-abuse/abuse-defined/)
State Law
- "Heat of Passion"- adequate provocation by "the victim may cause a reasonable man lose his reason"
- Murder -> Manslaughter
- Was reserved for men
- Now in a gender neutral form
The Law
Statistics:
DISCUSSION:
1. What do you think about the fact that states allowed husbands to kill their wives' lovers, but states made no concessions for women who killed their husbands or their husbands' lovers?
2. Do you think that juries react the same way to men and women invoking the heat of passion defense?
People v. Berry:
-Facts: Shortly after being married, Berry's wife began to taunt him about leaving the marriage for another man. After repeated taunting, intermingled with sexual advances, Berry choked his wife, ultimately killing her.
-Holding: A jury should be instructed in the "heat of passion" defense where evidence is offered that supports a continuous pattern of emotional torture that could accumulate into sufficient provocation.
State v. Norman:
-Facts: Norman shot and killed her sleeping, intoxicated husband after enduring bouts of abusive behavior.
-Holding: Norman failed to show she reasonably feared imminent death or great bodily harm, which would entitle her to a jury instruction on self-defense.
- On average, 24 people per minute are victims of rape, physical violence, or stalking by an intimate partner in the U.S.-- more than 12 million women and men over the course of a year.
- Females aged 18 to 24 and 25 to 34 generally experienced the highest rates of intimate partner violence.
- More than 1 in 3 women and more than 1 in 4 men have experienced rape, pyhysical violence, and/or stalking by an intimate partner in their lifetime.
- Nearly 15% of women and 4% of men have been injured as a result of IPV.
Where do we go from here?
DISCUSSION:
1. What did you think of the outcomes of the cases considering all of the facts? Do you agree or disagree with either of the opinions?
2. What differences do you believe occur, based on gender, when domestic abuse allegations are made and the criminal justice system gets involved?
(Sources: http://www.thehotline.org/resources/statistics/ and https://ncadv.org/assets/2497/domestic_violence.pdf)
- What can be done about domestic violence?
- Are PSA's and celebs using their platforms a good way to start the conversation? (Movements: No More, #MeToo, Time's Up)
- How can the law effect change?