Where the evidence is supportive of repeated abuse, a jury charge on battered person syndrome is warranted in a homicide case.

Without provocation, James Freeman shot to death his stepfather and his step-father's friend. At trial, Freeman used the defense of battered person syndrome, claiming that his stepfather had attempted to shoot him, run him over with a tractor and burn a trailer with Freeman inside. When Freeman requested that the trial court give a charge on battered person syndrome, the court refused. Freeman was convicted of murder and appealed.

The court looked to the case of State v. Smith, 486 S.E.2d 819 (1997), in which the court held that a jury charge on battered person syndrome should be given where supported by the evidence. In Smith, the victim had beaten and choked the defendant threatening to shoot her. The court analogized Smith to Freeman, noting that Freeman's stepfather had attempted to shoot him, run him over and burn down the home around him.

The court reversed Freeman's conviction for the murder of his stepfather on the grounds that the denial of a charge on battered person syndrome was error by the lower court. The conviction for the murder of the stepfather's friend, however, remained intact. The court noted that the stepfather's friend had no history of abusing Freeman.