State v. Bednarz

This is an appeal from a misdemeanor battery conviction. It was converted into a three-judge case pursuant to sec. 809.41(3), Stats. The appeal concerns the state's use of expert testimony about the battered woman's syndrome to provide one possible explanation for the victim's recantation of her original battery complaint. We affirm the trial court's ruling permitting this testimony.

On January 16,1992, police responded to a domestic abuse call. Upon arrival, the police met Tamara Martner. She was crying and upset. Her lower lip was cut and swollen. She complained that her boyfriend, William…