Survivors of domestic violence and intimate partner violence are particularly vulnerable to conviction and incarceration for the crimes of their abusive partners. Our criminal legal system’s refusal to understand and present the full context of a survivor-defendant's experience and abuse when assessing criminal culpability. In this episode, I will give a broad overview of accomplice liability, coercion and duress, using the story of Nancy Rish. Nancy was sentenced to natural life imprisonment for a first-degree murder she was not aware of under the theory of accomplice liability.

Pleadings (By Margaret Bryne):

People v. Rish, No. 87 CF 321, Petition for Relief from Judgment

2021 Petition for Executive Clemency for Nancy Rish

2014 Post-Conviction Petition Based on Actual Innocence

2016 Petition Based on Mitigating Evidence of Domestic Violence

Judgments:

People v. Rish, 566 N.E.2d 919 (Ill.App.3d, 1991).

People v. Rish, 2017 IL App. (3d) 160091-U.

People v. Rish, 2021 IL App. (3d) 190446.

Sources:

John F. Decker, The Mental State Requirement for Accomplice Liability in American Criminal Law, 60 S. C. L. Rev. 237 (2008).

Shannon Heffernan, Serving Time for Their Abusers’ Crimes, The Marshall Project, Jun. 13, 2024, at 6:00am. Last accessed Nov. 07, 2024.