On October 8, Chief Justice Michael de la Bastide of...

On October 8, Chief Justice Michael de la Bastide of the Court of Appeal overturned the death sentence on Indravani Ramjattan and reduced the charge against her from murder to manslaughter for the February 12, 1991, killing of her husband, Alexander Jordan, saying she suffered from battered wife syndrome. He sentenced her to 5 years in prison. Spousal abuse "has become endemic in our society and is a blot on the men in the society," de lab Bastide said. It was believed to be the first time a Trinidadian court had accepted spousal abuse as a consideration in a murder case. Merle Hodge, a women's rights activist and University of the West Indies lecturer, lauded the court's decision. "It's recognition at last by the courts of the situation of women and a shift from unfair sentencing patterns," Hodge said. "I hope it's a new era in the making."