People v. Erickson

In People v. Erickson (1997) 57 Cal.App.4th 1391, the Court upheld defendant's first degree murder conviction. Defendant claimed that on the evening of the homicide, the victim had sexually and physically assaulted her, and then threatened to kill her if she tried to leave him. After he fell asleep, she left their home and called her son, Keith. Together they decided to kill him. They returned to the house and Keith shot Pruitt two times in the head and neck while Pruitt was sleeping. The Court upheld the exclusion of testimony by an expert witness that he had concluded that defendant actually perceived that she was in danger when Keith and she killed Pruitt because battered women's syndrome evidence is not admissible "to predict the actual state of mind of a particular individual at a given moment." ( Id. at p. 1401.) Although it is not directly stated in the opinion, it is implicit therein that defendant's actions were not objectively reasonable and that it was imperfect self-defense that was at issue. (See id. at pp. 1396, 1402.)