§ 6-17 Self-defense - Battered Person's Syndrome

• Library: South Carolina Requests to Charge - Criminal (SCBar) (2012 Ed.)

§ 6-17 Self-Defense - Battered Person's Syndrome

The defendant claims self-defense as a result of battered person's syndrome. Evidence that the defendant suffers from battered person's syndrome was admitted for your consideration in connection with the defendant's claim of self-defense.

A battered person is a person who repeatedly is subjected to any forceful physical or psychological behavior by another person in order to coerce the battered person to do something the batterer wants the battered person to do without any concern for the battered person's rights. The battered person's syndrome is identified by a series of common characteristics that appear in people who are abused over an extended period of time by the dominant [male] [female] figure in their lives. These characteristics include fear, hypersuggestibility, isolation, guilt, and emotional dependency, which culminate in the battered person's belief that the battered person should not and cannot escape the batterer. A battered person believes the batterer is capable of killing the battered person.

The battered person's syndrome results from the cyclical nature of the relationship between the battered person and the batterer...