Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I have great news. We should all be out of here and back to our normal lives by the end of the night. I appreciate your time this evening and your attentiveness during this complex case. This case involves an uncontrollable outburst of rage in order to protect one’s self due to the prolonged abuse from a husband. As I go over the details of this case, please keep in mind what you, the jurors, are charged with determining: the guilt of the defendant beyond a reasonable doubt. In the state of Georgia, to be guilty beyond a reasonable doubt means that the defendant fulfilled all requirements of the crime and that a jury of his or her peers could not find reasonable doubt in the case. Please also consider that in the state of Georgia, murder is defined as someone taking the life of another with malice aforethought. What you are about to hear will show that the defendant by no means had malice aforethought the evening of December 18th, 1988, rather she was protecting herself from an abusive husband that had on many occasions beat her and had tried to kill her.
Ladies and gentlemen, this evening the prosecution has tried to show that Barbara Barrett had planned to kill her husband that evening. But if you look closely at the details of the evening of the incident, you will find that this simply is not the case. Barbara had gone into the living room to have a glass of wine after dinner to get away from her abusive husband, most likely to avoid any confrontation. Mr. John Barrett entered the room with a belt in his hands, and triggered Barbara’s memory to when John had almost killed her with a belt previously. Desperate for help, Barbara reached for a gun that had been placed there by John, and threated to shoot if he got any closer. As John got closer, Barbara fired. As you know, not a single person in the world knows what happened after the first shot. But, ladies and gentlemen, let me put you in Barbara’s shoes. Let’s say someone was coming at you with a belt in their hands, much like they had done before. And that time before, the individual had tried to kill you with that belt. I ask you, can you honestly say you wouldn’t do whatever you could to make sure that threat was no longer a threat? Can you honestly say you wouldn’t use every resource available to you at the time to make the thought of impending death go away? The truth is, Barbara could not stand the constant state of fear her husband put her in when he got violent. The truth is, Barbara could no longer stand the abuse she had put up with for 11 years. The truth is, ladies and gentlemen, this is not consistent with a cold-blooded murderer the defense has portrayed Barbara as.