PEOPLE VS. GENOSA GR NO.

135981, 2004

FACTS: Marivic Genosa attacked and wounded his husband which ultimately
led to his death. According to her, she did not provoke her husband when she
got home that night and it was her husband who began the provocation. She
said she was frightened that her husband would hurt her and she wanted to
make sure she would deliver her baby safely.

Marivic 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 said that the reason why Ben was violent and abusive
towards her that night was because he was crazy about his recent girlfriend,
Lulu Rubillos. The appellant, after being interviewed by specialist, has been
shown to be suffering from Battered Woman Syndrome. The appellant with a
plea of self-defense admitted the killing of her husband.

ISSUES: Whether or not appellant acted in self-defense.

HELD: The SC held that the defense failed to establish all the elements of
self-defense arising from battered woman syndrome, to wit:

(a) 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 intimated partner;
(b) 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, and;
(c) 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 perpetuated by the former against the
latter.