TRIALS OF BATTERED WOMEN WHO KILL - THE IMPACT OF ALTERNATIVE FORMS OF EXPERT EVIDENCE

The introduction of battered woman syndrome testimony in trials of bar tered women who have killed has stirred considerable debate within the psycholegal community. Much of the controversy stems from the testimo ny's focus on the woman's passivity as well as its portrayal of a sing le profile of battered women. In light of these concerns, proposals to alter the content of the testimony (e.g., dropping the ''syndrome'' t erminology, focus on battered women's social reality as opposed to the ir psychological state and reactions) have surfaced. In the present re search both the woman's prior response history (passive, active) and t he presence of expert testimony (bartered woman syndrome, social agenc y, no expert control) were manipulated in a homicide trial involving a battered woman who had killed her abuser. Overall, participants, draw n from both a university (N = 195) and a nonuniversity setting (N = 20 2), rendered more lenient verdicts and provided more favorable evaluat ions of the defendant's claim of self defense in the presence of exper t testimony (either form) compared to a no expert control. Further, th ese effects were more pronounced for the student than the nonstudent s ample. Implications of these findings for the use of expert evidence p ertaining to battered women are discussed.