R v Lavallee, [1990] 1 S.C.R. 852 is a leading Supreme Court of Canada case on the legal recognition of battered woman syndrome. The judgment, written by Justice Bertha Wilson, is generally considered one of her most famous. The court held in favour of allowing battered woman syndrome to explain how the mental conditions for self-defence were present in this case, and Lavallee's acquittal was restored.
Angelique Lynn Lavallee was in an abusive common law relationship with Kevin Rust. During a particularly serious fight Rust threatened to harm her, saying "either you kill me or I'll get you". During the altercation Rust slapped her, pushed her and hit her twice on the head. At some point during the altercation he handed Lavallee a gun, which she first fired through a window screen. Lavallee first contemplated shooting herself, however when Rust turned around to leave the room she shot him in the back of the head. At trial, Lavallee argued self-defence, and had a psychiatrist testify in her support. He explained the effects of her circumstances on her mental state and that in the state she was in she felt she was going to be killed and had no alternative but to shoot him. Lavallee did not testify. The jury acquitted Lavallee, the verdict was overturned on appeal, and finally the original verdict was upheld by the Supreme Court of Canada.
At issue before the Supreme Court was whether the expert evidence on the so-called "battered woman syndrome" was admissible.
Reasons of the courtedit
Justice Bertha Wilson, writing for the court, held that expert evidence is often needed when stereotypes and myths are inherent in a layperson's reasoning. In particular here, the woman's experience and perspective is relevant to inform the reasonable person's standard required for self-defence.
Martha Shaffer, "The Battered Woman Syndrome Revisited: Some Complicating Thoughts Five Years after R. v. Lavallee" (1997) 47 University of Toronto Law Journal 1
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^SCC Case Information - Docket 21022 Supreme Court of Canada
December 01, 2023
lavallee, this, article, does, cite, sources, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jstor, june, 2021, learn, when, remove, this, t. This article does not cite any sources Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources R v Lavallee news newspapers books scholar JSTOR June 2021 Learn how and when to remove this template message R v Lavallee 1990 1 S C R 852 is a leading Supreme Court of Canada case on the legal recognition of battered woman syndrome The judgment written by Justice Bertha Wilson is generally considered one of her most famous The court held in favour of allowing battered woman syndrome to explain how the mental conditions for self defence were present in this case and Lavallee s acquittal was restored R v LavalleeSupreme Court of CanadaHearing October 31 1989 Judgment May 3 1990Full case nameAngelique Lyn Lavallee v Her Majesty The QueenCitations 1990 1 S C R 852Docket No 21022 1 Prior historyOn appeal from Court of Appeal for ManitobaRulingLavallee appeal allowedCourt membershipChief Justice Brian DicksonPuisne Justices Antonio Lamer Bertha Wilson Gerard La Forest Claire L Heureux Dube John Sopinka Charles Gonthier Peter Cory Beverley McLachlinReasons givenMajorityWilson joined by Dickson Lamer L Heureux Dube Gonthier and McLachlinConcurrenceSopinkaLa Forest and Cory took no part in the consideration or decision of the case Contents 1 Background 2 Reasons of the court 3 See also 4 External linksBackground editAngelique Lynn Lavallee was in an abusive common law relationship with Kevin Rust During a particularly serious fight Rust threatened to harm her saying either you kill me or I ll get you During the altercation Rust slapped her pushed her and hit her twice on the head At some point during the altercation he handed Lavallee a gun which she first fired through a window screen Lavallee first contemplated shooting herself however when Rust turned around to leave the room she shot him in the back of the head At trial Lavallee argued self defence and had a psychiatrist testify in her support He explained the effects of her circumstances on her mental state and that in the state she was in she felt she was going to be killed and had no alternative but to shoot him Lavallee did not testify The jury acquitted Lavallee the verdict was overturned on appeal and finally the original verdict was upheld by the Supreme Court of Canada At issue before the Supreme Court was whether the expert evidence on the so called battered woman syndrome was admissible Reasons of the court editJustice Bertha Wilson writing for the court held that expert evidence is often needed when stereotypes and myths are inherent in a layperson s reasoning In particular here the woman s experience and perspective is relevant to inform the reasonable person s standard required for self defence See also editR v Malott 1998 1 S C R 123External links editFull text of Supreme Court of Canada decision at LexUM and CanLII Martha Shaffer The Battered Woman Syndrome Revisited Some Complicating Thoughts Five Years after R v Lavallee 1997 47 University of Toronto Law Journal 1 nbsp nbsp This article about Canadian law is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte SCC Case Information Docket 21022 Supreme Court of Canada Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title R v Lavallee amp oldid 1105209996, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
