Physical Abuse Case Study

Section A. Shelli Rose Dewey, Petitioner, v. Carolyn Myles, et al., Respondents. On September 12th, 2004, Shelli Rose Dewey, a Nevada resident, called Elko County Police frantically stating that her husband, Steven Dewey, was stabbed by an unknown assailant. Upon police arrival, Dewey was moderately intoxicated. Witnesses stated that the couple had been at a nearby bar earlier in the day when the bartender asked the two to leave. Thirty minutes following their ejection from the bar, witnesses claimed to see the Deweys arguing loudly in the parking lot. A witness then saw Shelli Dewey “draped over” Steven Dewey, yelling hysterically “Please don’t die! Please don’t die on me!” (Dewey v. the State of Nevada, 2007) Dewey was brought into custody …show more content…
Lenore Walker, author of The Battered Woman, states that battered woman syndrome, an “identifiable cluster of symptoms” present in women that were victims of long-term physical abuse, occurs in three distinct phases. These three phases, tension-building, acute battering, and contrition, define the “cycle of abuse” suffered by the female victim. (Costanzo & Krauss, 2015) This cycle of abuse typically leads to learned helplessness, the point in which a victim “becomes resigned to their suffering and fail to resist or leave their abuser”. (Costanzo & Krauss, 2015) Women suffering from battered woman syndrome typically display certain submissive characteristics as a direct result of the psychological trauma. Trial counsel will often use battered woman syndrome in trial to defend a female batterer’s killing of her significant …show more content…
Oftentimes, testimony from an expert on the syndrome is often excluded from trial, however, by a judge that acknowledges the “scientific validity of [battered woman syndrome], and a concern that expert testimony unfairly bolsters the credibility of the alleged victim.” (Costanzo & Krauss,