On September 25, Eimer Stahl attorneys Amy Miller and Ryan Walsh filed a critical amicus brief in the Seventh Circuit in support of a victim of domestic violence and on behalf of the firm’s pro bono clients, End Domestic Abuse Wisconsin and Wisconsin Coalition Against Sexual Assault. End Domestic Abuse Wisconsin is a non-profit based in Madison, Wisconsin, and is the only statewide coalition led by social policy advocates, attorneys and experts working to support, connect, equip, empower, and lead organizations for social change to end domestic abuse. Wisconsin Coalition Against Domestic Violence is a non-profit organization dedicated to ending all forms of sexual violence and ensuring that every survivor gets the support they need.
The case involves a domestic-abuse survivor who has been criminally charged by the federal government and seeks to raise a defense of duress. The Firm’s amicus brief argues that victims of chronic domestic abuse, who are all but imprisoned by their violent abusers, have the right to raise the defense of duress (and to back it up with expert testimony) when charged with an alleged crime that the batterer forced the victim to commit. The case implicates an important circuit split, with former Judge Kavanaugh having taken the side of our clients by holding that evidence of domestic abuse is admissible in these circumstances. The matter is ongoing and we will continue to update this page as necessary with any new developments.
Click here to view the brief.