Defending the guilty is just part of the job for defense lawyers, and many would say just about anything to save their client from punishment no matter whether they deserve it or not.
So when a defense lawyer in England argued that his client should not be punished for her violent crime because of something that millions of women go through every month, the public thought there was no way it would hold up in court and that a judge would instantly see through the absurd defense…
Nothing But Trouble
In early November 1981, officers at a local police station in East London knew something bad had either just happened or was about to happen when a 29-year-old barmaid from the area walked into their police station.
A Bad Track Record
Officers immediately recognized the woman since she had almost 30 prior convictions and the unstable 29-year-old was known to cause trouble all around East London. According to her record, the young woman had been in prison on and off for 10 years…
History Of Violence
Over those 10 years, the woman was convicted for a variety of offenses like arson, assault, and breaking stranger’s windows with rocks. According to the police, the 29-year-old had tried to take her own life 20 times.
A Deadly Attack
Worst of all, however, was the charge that the woman had stabbed another barmaid to death during a brawl about a year earlier. For that offense, she was imprisoned for 10 months while she awaited trial. Eventually, however, she was released and placed on probation when her father intervened…
Uncovering The Truth
After Sandie was arrested for the murder of her fellow barmaid, her father, who worked as a night security guard, became determined to get to the bottom of his daughter’s erratic behavior since she seemed to be randomly taken over by violent impulses.
An Alarming Pattern
Smith’s father found her diary and studied it carefully. After reading it thoroughly, he noticed a strange and alarming pattern. Based on Smith’s diary entries, her dad realized that the violent and erratic outbursts always occurred at monthly intervals…
A Monthly Occurance
Not only did the outbursts happen once a month, but they always occurred just before she got her period. Smith’s father remembered reading an article in the newspaper about premenstrual tension, or PMT, and wondered if his daughter was suffering from the same thing.
The Diagnosis
PMT, also called PMS, is a mood disorder that occurs during the menstrual cycle that typically causes mood swings, tender breasts, food cravings, fatigue, irritability and depression in women just before the onset of their period. For some women, however, the symptoms of PMT are more severe…
Calling In An Expert
Doctor Katharina Dalton, a London-based gynecological endocrinologist, had been studying the effects of PMT since 1984 and agreed to examine Smith after hearing about what her father discovered in Smith’s diary entries.
The Examination
Dr. Dalton went to the prison where Smith was being kept until her trial and confirmed what her father had suspected. ”She had been in prison for seven months when I first saw her, and accurate records had been kept,” Dr. Dalton said about the initial examination…
A 29-Day Cycle
”Most of the month she was described as pleasant and law-abiding. But once every 29 days, she would attempt arson in her cell, or try to drown or strangle herself, or smash windows. She had been in prison on and off for 10 years prior to that, and those notes showed 26 episodes of violence occurring every 29 days,” Dalton said.
A Medical Condition
Smith pleaded innocent of murder since it carries a mandatory life sentence in England, but plead guilty to manslaughter since the sentencing is up to the judge’s discretion. After Dr. Dalton explained that Smith’s violence was caused by a medical condition out of her control, the judge came to a decision…
A Groundbreaking Sentence
Sandie Smith would be placed on probation and would have to undergo treatment for PMT, which her lawyer told the court turned her into a ‘raging animal’ once a month. Once released from jail, Sandie was treated for 3 months with daily injections of the hormone progesterone, which became imbalanced just before her period and caused her to have violent outbursts.
Treatment Begins
For the first time in years, Sandie was able to get through a month without having a violent episode. The public, however, wasn’t convinced that she could now be trusted just because she was being treated for a hormone imbalance…
1 Year Later…
About a year later, however, Sandie walked into the police station on a November afternoon carrying a 4-inch knife and started threatening to kill a sergeant who she claimed insulted her. At first, police believed they had proof that Sandie was just a violent criminal since she was still undergoing treatment.
Lowering The Dosage
Dr. Dalton told officials that Sandie’s alibi for her violent outburst still held up since she had reduced Sandie’s progesterone dosage to figure out how much she still needed. On November 10, Sandie was again placed on probation for carrying a knife and threatening the life of an officer…
Another Murderer Goes Free
The very next day, 36-year-old Christine English, who plead guilty to manslaughter after running down her boyfriend with her car and killing him, was also released from custody and had her license suspended for just a year after it was proved she also suffered from PMT.
Public Outrage
As a result of the lenient punishments, a public debate ensued. Critics argued the rulings would only set women back further. “It is a very disturbing situation. Any woman can plead PMT and literally get away with murder. I don’t think anything is going to set back women’s causes more than this thing,” said Dr. Gerlad Swyer, a prosecution witness and gynecological expert. “To let women think they become criminal once a month as a result of their physiology is to really debase the status of women. This is to say women are criminal by nature…”
The Defense
Dr. Dalton, however, argued that the ruling applied to only a very small, testable percentage of women suffering from PMT. “I’m not worried about women’s groups. I’m making better women of the few who are letting down our side,” said Dalton, who was only worried that the condition would be abused by defense attorneys. “Lawyers are sending more and more cases to me. It’s a great worry because I get plenty of rubbish. The courts will accept PMT if it’s the genuine article, but doctors have to be more careful about the diagnosis.”
Moving Forward
Despite what the public said, Sandie was just glad to finally know what was wrong with her and get her life on track. “They all said there was nothing physically wrong with me,” Sandie said. “Now I see Dr. Dalton once a month, and a visiting nurse comes every day to give me an injection of progesterone. I may be on it for years… I wouldn’t like to go through it all again,” she added. “People thought I was mad, and so did I. Before I was treated for PMT, one minute I was playing records and the next I would be out for 48 hours doing crazy things. I would like to make it up to my parents.”
Violent Women Set Free After Lawyer Argues PMS Made Her Do It is an article from: LifeDaily