Is Only One Incident of Battery Counts As Battered Women's Syndrome ?

In People v. Gomez the court held that battered women's syndrome evidence was improperly admitted in a case involving only one incident of battery which was recanted at trial. ( People v. Gomez, supra, 72 Cal. App. 4th at p. 411.) In People v. Humphrey, supra, 13 Cal. 4th at pages 1083-1084: the definition of battered women's syndrome was: "Battered women's syndrome 'has been defined as "a series of common characteristics that appear in women who are abused physically and psychologically over an extended period of time by the dominant male figure in their lives." ( State v. Kelly (1984) 97 N.J. 178, 193 [478 A.2d 364, 371]; (Ibid.) battered women's syndrome evidence speaks directly to both recantation and reunion by a domestic abuse victim, especially where such actions are used to attack her credibility. ( People v. Morgan, supra, 58 Cal. App. 4th at pp. 1215-1217.)