What is the impact of domestic violence on a defendant's ability to defend himself in a domestic violence case?

California, United States of America

The following excerpt is from People v. Levens, B250023 (Cal. App. 2015):

Evidence of intimate partner battering and its effects will often be relevant to show both imperfect and perfect self-defense. (People v. Humphrey, supra, 13 Cal.4th at pp. 1083-1087 [using the term "battered woman syndrome" to reflect then-current statutory phrasing].) "As violence increases over time, and threats gain credibility, a battered person might become sensitized and thus able reasonably to discern when danger is real and when it is not. '[An] expert's testimony might . . . enable the jury to find that the battered [woman] . . . is particularly able to predict accurately the likely extent of violence in any attack on her. That conclusion could significantly affect the jury's

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evaluation of the reasonableness of defendant's fear for her life.' [Citation.]" (Id. at p. 1086.)⁶

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