Amicus Briefs by Topic

DUTY TO RETREAT

WEIAND, KATHLEEN:

Weiand v. Florida, Supreme Court of Florida, January 1997

Brief on behalf of battered woman who killed her husband as he choked and assaulted her.  Brief argues that trial court erred by excluding two eyewitnesses to abuse on reasoning that battering expert testified, and that policy of protecting domestic violence victims requires that cohabitants not have duty to retreat from own home before using deadly force.  

Certified question answered, 732 So. 2d 1044 (1999) \

NCDBW note:  Ruling was that the battering expert was no substitute for eyewitnesses to abuse; cohabitants do not have duty to retreat from home before resorting to deadly force.