Expert Testimony for Battered Women Who Kill: Dilemmas of Objectively and Bias

• NCJ Number: 111951
• Author(s): J Blackman
• Date Published: 1987
• Length: 11 pages
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Paper presented at the American Psychological Association Meeting, August 1987, New York, New York.

Annotation

Four examples illustrate different aspects of dilemmas of objectivity and bias in expert testimony for trials involving violence in intimate relationships.

Abstract

The first case involved a young woman seriously injured by her boyfriend. The other three cases concerned battered women who killed their abusers. These dilemmas have to do with the expert witness' urge to be clever, correct, and consistent; the tension between the roles of advocate and educator in the adversarial courtroom environment; the influence of the expert's life experiences and presume values on the content and reception of the testimony; and the bias resulting from family violence researchers' neglect of social class as a significant contributor to the experiences of the battered woman. With resepct to this last issue, data are presented on the relationship between social class and criminal justice system outcome for 25 battered women who killed their abusers. Among these women, those on welfare were less likely to have an expert witness testify, were less likely to be acquitted, were more likely to receive prison sentences, and were less likely to fit the stereotype of the typical battered woman.