論美國法上「受虐婦女綜合症候群」作為正當防衛及刑事抗辯之適用爭議

Controversy over the Application of“Battered Woman Syndrome”as Cause of Legitimate Self-Defense and for Criminal Defense in American Law

同性或異性間的受虐待婦女是個重大的社會問題，家庭暴力常常惡化為家庭殺人事件，婦女因家庭虐待關係而謀殺其親密伴侶。被控殺害配偶或親密伴侶的受虐婦女，越來越多以正當防衛行為作為辯護理由，並尋求有關受虐婦女綜合症候群的專家證詞來支持這個主張。使用這些證據來支持正當防衛的主張常令人感到困擾，因為這些案件的事實通常不符合傳統的正當防衛概念。但在評價被告的犯罪行為時，被告的心理狀態與主觀的認知，都與犯罪事實有相當大的關係，Lenore E. A. Walker因此創造了「受虐婦女綜合症候群」的概念，並試圖透過對受虐婦女心理伴隨現象以及習得的無助感理論的建立，來為受虐婦女綜合症候群理論提出正當防衛的刑事辯護理由。本文追溯了受虐婦女綜合症候群的開展與演變歷史，探討了美國法有關受虐婦女綜合症候群概念，作為正當防衛及刑事抗辯之適用爭議的最新發展與評論。整體而言，尊重受虐婦女的特殊經驗是對的，但不能忽略刑事證據法上關於以刑事被告之心神狀態或情狀作證的專家，不得就被告是否具有構成被訴事實，或其抗辯要件的心理狀態或情狀發表意見或推論之證據能力問題。因為，這個最終爭點的決定權，僅得由審判者自行認定。

"Women being abused by the same sex or opposite sex have been a significant social issue. Domestic violence often gets worse and develops into domestic homicide events. Women may murder their intimate partners because of having domestic abusive relationships. More and more battered women being charged with murdering their husbands tend to take legitimate self-defense as a reason for defending themselves in court. At the same time, they also seek testimony provided by experts specializing in battered woman syndrome to support the above mentioned type of offenses. The use of battered woman syndrome as evidence is often perplexing when it’s for supporting legitimate self-defense. This is because the facts in this type of cases are not consistent with the traditional concept of self-defense. However, a defendant’s psychological status and subjective cognition are closely related to criminal facts while evaluations are being made on a defendant’s criminal behavior. Hence, Lenore E. A. Walker created the concept of battered woman syndrome and made an attempt to establish a theory based on the psychological phenomenon accompanying abused women and the acquisition of a sense of helplessness. Then this theory could be further used to support that battered woman syndrome was a cause leading to justifiable self-defense while making a criminal defense in court.In this study, the outset and historical transition of the battered woman syndrome was traced and explored. Discussions were also made on the latest development and reviews about the controversial use of the battered woman syndrome concept in American law as a cause leading to legitimate self-defense and for criminal defense in court. In general, it is inarguable that the special experience battered women have should be respected while the following condition prescribed in the criminal evidence act should not be ignored. That is, the experts, who give testimony against or for a criminal defendant based on his or her psychological status or conditions, shall not render opinions to show if the status of the defendant constitutes the accused fact or to present the psychological status or conditions that form an element for defense, or such experts shall not infer evidential effect. This results from that the final decision for such argument shall solely be left to the judge."