PHIL 3040 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Grievous Bodily Harm, Phycology

• School: University of Guelph
• Department: Philosophy
• Course: PHIL 3040
• Professor: Omid Shabani

Document Summary

Lyn lavallee shot her common law husband in the back of the head and was charged with murder. In the provincial court criminal division, lavallee explained her action as a form of self-defense. Given that she was a battered wife, a fact supported by an expert testimony of phycologist , the court acquitted her, the crown appealed the case. The manitoba court of appeal overturned the acquittal and ordered a new trial talking issue with the admission of the expert testimony. Lavallee appealed the decision of the supreme court, which addressed both the issue of admissibility of expert testimony about battered women and the issue of availability of self- defense. The job before the supreme court is to determine whether. Lavallee"s self-defense case could have been presented minus the expert testimony, and whether the expert testimony was superfluous. The accused belief about each of these must be objectively reasonable.