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Effective Assistance Of Counsel For Battered Women Defendants, Sarah M. Buel

SARAH M BUEL

That so many battered women defendants receive ineffective legal assistance ought to compel introspection and remedial action within the legal profession. A review of cases in which courts found the conduct of counsel unacceptable reveals an astonishing degree of incompetence, with catastrophic consequences for battered defendants. The problem is characterized by attorneys' failure to present defense theories linked to the abuse endured by battered women defendants and is further compounded by judges who refuse to apply the law. A battered woman defendant's case outcome is not so much predicated on the specific facts of her situation as on whom she …