Suppose an 18 year old woman is guilty of the murder of her abusive step father?

Question

What criteria should be used to determine whether or not she should be executed for the crime? The court has determined the woman was not acting in self defense when she killed her step father. Do girls/women get away with murder in these cases involving (allegedly) abusive parents/husbands? Or is the opposite true?

Answer 1

They could use the battered woman syndrome. That is, even though at the time the woman was in no immediate danger, she had been beaten so much that she did not know the difference and believes she was acting in self defense. This was used in a case that a woman killed her abusive husband in his sleep, thinking he was trying to kill her.

        Unfortunately(and this is coming from a woman) women do get off on cases more often or do not have such a bad jail term, just from the fact that they are women and there are still many people who see them as the gentler s*x. This is especially true when it is a guardian or someone they were supposed to be able to trust.  

Answer 2

if the law failed to protect them in the past and the individual was threatening their continued well being possibly their life they should get away with it, though a better option in hind sight would have been to move out and get a dog and a shotgun.

Answer 3

It would see to be a case of mitigating circumstances. No jury will go for the death penalty of a women that has been abused.