State v. Hill

Harwell, Justice:

Appellant was charged with the murder of Ricky Goodman. She was convicted of voluntary manslaughter and sentenced to fifteen years in prison. Due to the exclusion of certain proffered expert testimony, we reverse and remand.

Appellant contends that the trial court erred in excluding expert testimony on the “battered woman’s syndrome.” Appellant and the decedent (Goodman) began dating in 1981 and lived together sporadically until Goodman was killed in 1984. The relationship was marked by Goodman’s increasing violence toward the appellant. A good deal of testimony centered…