## Facts

- Gladys Kelly stabbed her husband, Ernest Kelly, once with scissors during a street confrontation on May 24, 1980; he later died.
- Kelly asserted self-defense and offered proof of repeated physical abuse throughout their approximately seven-year marriage.
- According to Kelly, earlier that day Ernest beat her, threw her to the ground, and choked her until bystanders intervened.
- As Kelly walked away, Ernest advanced toward her again; she testified she believed he was about to kill her and used the scissors to protect herself.
- The defense sought to present expert testimony from psychologist Dr. Lois Veronen regarding battered-woman’s syndrome (BWS) to explain (1) Kelly’s perception of danger and (2) why an abused partner might not leave.
- The trial court excluded the BWS expert testimony as inadmissible on the self-defense issue.
- The jury convicted Kelly of reckless manslaughter.

## Issues

1. Whether expert testimony on battered-woman’s syndrome is admissible to assist the jury in evaluating the honesty and reasonableness of a defendant’s belief in the necessity of deadly force for self-defense.
2. Whether BWS satisfies New Jersey standards for admissibility of scientific or technical expert testimony.
3. Whether the proffered psychologist was sufficiently qualified to testify.
4. Whether excluding the expert testimony was prejudicial error requiring reversal.

## Decision

- The Supreme Court of New Jersey reversed the reckless manslaughter conviction and remanded for a new trial.
- The court held BWS is a proper subject for expert testimony and, on the record presented, satisfied New Jersey’s reliability requirements for scientific/technical evidence.
- The court held the defense expert was sufficiently qualified.
- The court ruled the trial court erred by categorically excluding BWS testimony as irrelevant or improper to self-defense.
- The court held the exclusion was not harmless because the testimony bore directly on the central self-defense questions for the jury.

## Legal Principles

- Self-defense requires proof that the defendant actually believed deadly force was necessary to prevent death or serious bodily harm and that the belief was reasonable under the circumstances.
- Expert testimony may be admitted to assist the jury where specialized knowledge would help it evaluate behavior and perceptions that may appear counterintuitive to lay jurors.
- BWS evidence is admissible, when properly founded, as relevant to both (1) the defendant’s honest perception of danger and (2) the jury’s assessment of reasonableness in light of the defendant’s circumstances.
- Admission of scientific/technical expert testimony depends on a showing of sufficient reliability under New Jersey evidentiary standards; relative novelty does not bar admission if reliability is established on the record.
- Wrongful exclusion of defense expert testimony that goes to the core of a justification defense constitutes reversible error when it likely affected the verdict.

## Conclusion

The court held that properly supported expert testimony on battered-woman’s syndrome may be used to inform the jury’s evaluation of a self-defense claim, reversed Kelly’s manslaughter conviction due to the improper exclusion of such testimony, and ordered a new trial where the jury may consider that evidence in assessing honesty and reasonableness.


State v. Kelly, 97 N.J. 178, 478 A.2d 364 (N.J. 1984)