R. v. Malott

1998 WL 1714234 Supreme Court of Canada

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

D and the deceased had lived as common law spouses for almost 20 years. The deceased abused D physically, sexually, psychologically and emotionally. A few months before the shooting, the deceased separated from D took their son and went to live with his girlfriend. On the day of the shooting, D was scheduled to go to a medical center with the deceased to get prescription drugs for use in his illegal drug trade. D took a pistol from the gun cabinet. After driving to the medical center, she shot him to death. She then took a taxi to the girlfriend's home, shot her and stabbed her with a knife. D was charged with first-degree murder and attempted murder. At trial, the accused testified to the extensive abuse which she had suffered and led expert evidence to show that she suffered from battered woman syndrome. The jury found her guilty of second-degree murder in the death of the deceased and attempted murder of his girlfriend. A majority of the Court of Appeal affirmed the convictions. It found that there was no air of reality to the defense of self-defense as it related to the charge of attempted murder. With respect to the deceased, the court concluded the jury was clearly instructed that the perception of the accused developed against the background of her abuse, was required to be assessed in determining if her actions were reasonable self-defense. The accused appealed from the murder conviction complaining about the adequacy of the trial judge's charge to the jury on the murder charge with regard to the issue of battered woman syndrome as a defense.