The judge in the Donna Matthews murder case says she’s not convinced that the jury should be given the option of writing it off as a matter of self-defense.
Matthews is the Kenosha woman who says that her ex-boyfriend inflicted such a level of both physical and emotional abuse that she felt compelled to return to Kenosha from her home in Hawaii in 2016 and kill him on Independence Day.
During a pre-trial hearing Wednesday, Matthews’ attorneys sought permission to allow them to present to the jury a UW-Madison expert on Battered Woman Syndrome. Darald Hanusa of the Midwest Domestic Violence Resource Center testified Wednesday that the syndrome involves much more than physical abuse.
But Judge Jodi Meier indicated that she’s not sure a claim of self-defense is warranted, given the circumstances. Referencing the real-life story of a woman who set fire to her abusive husband while he slept, Meier said: "I don't know that the bed (in this case) was burning, quite frankly, I'm struggling with that. Is it the burning bed defense or the 'he had it coming' defense?"
The hearing is expected to continue Friday, with more discussion on the appropriateness of the self-defense claim. The defense argues that it should be up to the jury to decide whether to believe Matthews and the expert witness.
The trial is scheduled for June.
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