United States v. Queen Nwoye

Dissenting opinion filed by Senior Circuit Judge SENTELLE.

KAVANAUGH, Circuit Judge:

A woman named Queen Nwoye was convicted of conspiring with her boyfriend, Adriane Osuagwu, to extort money from a prominent doctor with whom Nwoye had previously had an affair. At trial, Nwoye testified that she acted under duress: She said that Osuagwu repeatedly beat her and forced her to participate in the extortion scheme. Despite asserting a duress defense based on Osuagwu’s repeated abuse of Nwoye, Nwoye’s counsel did not introduce expert testimony on battered woman syndrome. At the close of trial,…