When a jury, in November 1982, acquitted Jane Stafford of first degree murder in the death of her common-law husband, Billy, the packed courtroom rose as one to applaud the verdict.??The case attracted national attention and, because of it, the battered wife syndrome is now an accepted defense and it is permissible to bring forward, evidence of longtime abuse in cases in which women have killed heir mates.??The issue of violence against women was...