For lawyers only!!!!!!!!!!!?

Question

Have you heard of the State v. Stewart case. IF you have or have some knowledge of the case please e-mail me.

Answer 1

1. Under the common law, the excuse for killing in self-defense is founded upon necessity, be it real or apparent.

2. Where self-defense is asserted, evidence of the deceased's long-term cruelty and violence towards the defendant is admissible. In cases involving battered spouses, expert evidence of the battered woman syndrome is relevant to a determination of the reasonableness of the defendant's perception of danger.

3. The existence of the battered woman syndrome in and of itself does not operate as a defense to murder.

4. In order to instruct a jury on self-defense, there must be some showing of an imminent threat or a confrontational circumstance involving an overt act by an aggressor. There is no exception to this requirement where the defendant has suffered long-term domestic abuse and the victim is the abuser. In such cases, the issue is not whether the defendant believes homicide is the solution to past or future problems with the batterer, but rather whether circumstances surrounding the killing were sufficient to create a reasonable belief in the defendant that the use of deadly force was necessary.

5. Our test for self-defense is a two-pronged one. We first use a subjective standard to determine whether the defendant sincerely and honestly believed it necessary to kill in order to defend. We then use an objective standard to determine whether defendant's belief was reasonable--specifically, whether a reasonable person in defendant's circumstances would have perceived self- defense as necessary.

6. When a battered woman kills her sleeping spouse when she is in no imminent danger, the killing is not reasonably necessary and a self-defense instruction may not be given.

If this is the case you're asking about, yet it doesn't answer your question, feel free to email me!

Best wishes.

Answer 2

This is the famous battered wife syndrome case. The defendant claimed that she killed her husband in self defense because she though he was going to kill her. Ask some specifics and I can help you.

Answer 3

only people on here are those who work with lawyers hun, like paralegals police officers and case workers. good luck

Answer 4

look here