Law School Case Briefs
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People v. Humphrey
California Supreme Court (1996) | 13 Cal. 4th 1073; 921 P.2d 1; 96 Daily Journal DAR 10609; 96 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 6509; 56 Cal. Rptr. 2d 142; 1996 Cal. LEXIS 4222
TL;DR: Humphrey claimed she shot Hampton in self-defense after repeated abuse. The court reversed because jurors were wrongly barred from considering battered women’s syndrome evidence when assessing whether her belief in the need to kill was reasonable, and the error was prejudicial.
Legal Significance: Relevant battered women’s syndrome evidence may inform both the actual existence and objective reasonableness of a defendant’s belief in the need for self-defense. The decision preserves the reasonable-person standard and disapproves contrary portions of People v. Aris and People v. Day.