State v. Stevens

In this criminal case, defendant was charged with murdering an eighteen-month-old child. At trial, his theory of defense was that the death was caused by the child’s mother, who also was his girlfriend. A jury convicted defendant. He appealed, arguing, among other things, that the trial court erred in permitting the state to present expert testimony that the mother suffered from a psychological condition known as Battered Woman Syndrome (BWS). Although the Court of Appeals rejected that and several other of defendant’s assigned errors, it ultimately reversed the conviction and remanded for a…