State v. Gallegos

OPINION

BIVINS, Judge.

Defendant appeals from her conviction in a jury trial of voluntary manslaughter. Defendant killed her ex-husband, and then-companion, George Gallegos, by shooting him at close range while he was lying in bed and then stabbing him numerous times in the neck.

Based on a long history of physical and sexual abuse, defendant raised the “battered wife syndrome” as a basis for self-defense. At the close of the evidence, the court rejected defendant’s proffered self-defense instruction. Although the court had allowed the presentation of evidence of George’s past brutal acts toward…