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Topic: Battered Woman Syndrom People of The Philippines vs. Marivic Genosa (G.R. No. 135981, September 29, 2000) Facts

Marivic Genosa killed her husband Ben and claimed self-defense arising from battered woman syndrome. The Supreme Court ruled against her defense for failing to establish all elements of the syndrome. To qualify, the abusive relationship must show at least two cycles of violence, each with three phases: tension building, acute battering, and calm loving period. Genosa only proved one incident followed this pattern. She also did not prove the final battering caused her to fear imminent harm and honestly believe killing was necessary for self-defense, or that Ben posed probable grave harm at the time. The defense fell short of fully establishing the cycle of violence characterized their relationship.

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46 views1 page

Topic: Battered Woman Syndrom People of The Philippines vs. Marivic Genosa (G.R. No. 135981, September 29, 2000) Facts

Marivic Genosa killed her husband Ben and claimed self-defense arising from battered woman syndrome. The Supreme Court ruled against her defense for failing to establish all elements of the syndrome. To qualify, the abusive relationship must show at least two cycles of violence, each with three phases: tension building, acute battering, and calm loving period. Genosa only proved one incident followed this pattern. She also did not prove the final battering caused her to fear imminent harm and honestly believe killing was necessary for self-defense, or that Ben posed probable grave harm at the time. The defense fell short of fully establishing the cycle of violence characterized their relationship.

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RV Louis
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© © All Rights Reserved
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Topic: Battered Woman Syndrom

PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES VS. MARIVIC GENOSA


[ G.R. No. 135981, September 29, 2000 ]

Facts:

During the first year of marriage, Marivic and Ben lived happily but apparently thereafter, Ben changed
and the couple would always quarrel and sometimes their quarrels became violent. Appellant testified
that every time her husband came home drunk, he would provoke her and sometimes beat her.
Whenever beaten by her husband, she consulted medical doctors who testified during the trial.
On November, 15, 1995, appellant and the victim were quarreled and the victim beat the appellant.
However, appellant was able to run to another room.Appellant admiittedbthat he killed his husband
with the use of a gun which ultimately led to the death. However, the alleged cause of death of the
victim was by beating through the use of a lead pipe. According to the appellant, she did not provoke
her husband when she got home that night and it was her husband who began the provocation. The
appellant said she was frightened that her husband would hurt her and herbunborn child. The appellant
testified that during her marriage, she had tried to leave her husband at least five times, but that Ben
would always follow her and they would reconcile.. The appellant with a plea of self-defense arising
from a battered woman syndrome, admitted the killing of her husband.

Issue:
Whether or not the appellant can validly invoke the “battered woman syndrome” as constituting self
defense?

Ruling:

No. The Supreme Court held that the defense failed to establish all the elements of self-defense arising
from battered woman syndrome. A Battered woman is defined as a woman "who is repeatedly
subjected to any forceful physical or psychological behavior by a man in order to coerce her to do
something he wants her to do without concern for her rights. This syndrome is characterized by the so-
called “cycle of violence,” which has three phases: (1) the tension-building phase; (2) the acute battering
incident; and (3) the tranquil, loving (or, at least, nonviolent) phase. In order to be classified as a self
defense arising from a battered woman, first, each of the phases of the cycle of violence must be proven
to have characterized at least two battering episodes between the appellant and her intimate partner.
Second, the final acute battering episode preceding the killing of the batterer must have produced in the
battered person’s mind an actual fear of an imminent harm from her batterer and an honest belief that
she needed to use force in order to save her life. Third, at the time of the killing, the batterer must have
posed probable - not necessarily immediate and actual - grave harm to the accused, based on the
history of violence perpetrated by the former against the latter. Taken altogether, these circumstances
could satisfy the requisites of self-defense. Under the existing facts of the present case, however, not all
of these elements were duly established ansd the defense fell short of proving all three phases of the
"cycle of violence" supposedly characterizing the relationship of Ben and Marivic Genosa. No doubt
there were acute battering incidents. In relating to the court a quo how the fatal incident that led to the
death of Ben started, Marivic perfectly described the tension-building phase of the cycle. She was able
to explain in adequate detail the typical characteristics of this stage. However, that single incident does
not prove the existence of the syndrome. In other words, she failed to prove that in at least another
battering episode in the past, she had gone through a similar pattern.

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