Sanders v. State
Supreme Court of Georgia
303 S.E.2d 13 (1983)
Lillian Sanders (defendant) was convicted of murdering her premature infant daughter, Cassandra, who died of a severe head injury alongside multiple bruises suggesting repeated abuse; Sanders eventually admitted she may have dropped and then struck the child to stop her crying. At trial, a prosecution psychologist testified that Sanders exhibited battering-parent syndrome, tracing it to abuse Sanders herself experienced as a child, without Sanders having raised her own character as an issue first.
Whether the state may introduce evidence of a mother's abusive character or battering-parent syndrome in a prosecution for her child's death when the mother has not first placed her own character in issue.