The Battered Wife Syndrome legal defense: An abused defense?

Regarding the CA editorial “Bresden holds complex case” dated 4/23/10: The Gaile Owens case is a slam dunk for the death penalty. She hired a guy to kill her husband, and it was carried out according to plan. This was pre-meditated 1st degree gruesome murder, and is a prime reason why we have the death penalty. My only shock is why it has taken 24 years for the system to bring her up for execution.

I believe the battered woman syndrome (BWS), which I admit exists in obvious and extreme cases, is now too often used as courtroom trickery - a back door legal defense where lawyers find easy traction in a courtroom with no one to defend the murdered male. BWS in most cases is used when there is nothing else for the defense to hang their case.

We live in a society where personal responsibility is no longer a value that is a desired trait, and this spells nothing but trouble for our society. Women are not idiots – after all, they have been fighting for, and deserve equal rights - and there are resources where they can call or go to in order to document domestic violence. They can get a lawyer and get a divorce; they can go to the doctor and document physical abuse.

As a male, it unnerves me that in Memphis, Tennessee a man who lives a normal quite life can be brutally executed by a disgruntled wife in a premeditated fashion and then sees his character assassinated again in court without the benefit of defending himself.

The Mary Winkler case was a travesty of justice. If Gaile Owens execution is suspended or delayed any further, it sends a duel message to the community.

Men: You better be on your best behavior, or you may end up brutally murdered and your character bludgeoned without the benefit of a defense.

Women: Why hire a divorce lawyer? You can have your husband murdered, collect the insurance money and have a happy life. If you get caught, you (and your lawyer) can make up whatever slander you want against the deceased in order to get off on a “battered wife syndrome” defense.

Does this sound like justice to anyone?