why did francine hughes cooperate with her lawyer

What happened to Francine Hughes husband?

A new documentary looks at the landmark case of Francine Hughes and examines the inequalities in the criminal-justice system’s treatment of women who kill in self-defense. For thirteen years, Francine Hughes’s husband, James (Mickey) Hughes, beat her routinely.

What was Francine Hughes defense to a murder charge?

At trial, Hughes was found not guilty by reason of temporary insanity in one of the first cases involving " battered-woman syndrome " as a defense. Francine Hughes was born in Stockbridge, Michigan. Her mother named her Francine after a French musician.

What is Francine Hughes’ case all too common?

Francine Hughes’ case was all too familiar to a group of feminist activists who had been trying to call attention to domestic violence for years. Ever since the fight for women’s suffrage, women had been trying to turn the tide on spousal abuse.

Where did Francine Hughes grow up?

Francine Hughes was born in Stockbridge, Michigan. Her mother named her Francine after a French musician. Her father, a farmworker, was an abusive alcoholic. At age 16, Francine left high school to marry James "Mickey" Hughes.

Who was Francine Hughes lawyer?

Arjen GreydanusArjen Greydanus represented Francine Hughes of Dansville in her first degree murder trial 40 years ago. She was acquitted by reason of temporary insanity.

What is The Burning Bed defense?

In female-perpetrated intimate partner homicide trials, the insanity defense can also be referred to as the “burning bed” defense. This defense argues that persistent victimization interferes with the defendant's mental capacity making her unable to tell right from wrong.

Who was the real woman in The Burning Bed?

Francine Hughes WilsonFrancine Hughes Wilson, who was found not guilty by reason of insanity after setting her abusive ex-husband on fire as he slept in 1977, a homicide dramatized in the TV movie “The Burning Bed” that directed national attention toward domestic violence, died March 22 in Sheffield, Ala. She was 69.

Was The Burning Bed with Farrah Fawcett a true story?

On October 8, 1984, “The Burning Bed” premiered on NBC. The TV-movie – starring Farrah Fawcett and based on Faith McNulty's 1980 book – portrayed the true story of domestic violence survivor, Francine Hughes. Watching her harrowing plight, the public perspective of domestic violence was forever altered.

What happened to Francine Hughes after the trial?

After a trial in Lansing, Michigan, Francine was found not guilty by reason of temporary insanity. Both the prosecution and the defense agreed that Francine's plight was sympathetic. However, no jurors have ever confirmed publicly whether that was a factor in their decision.

Is Francine Hughes still alive?

March 22, 2017Francine Hughes / Date of death

Which age group experiences the highest rate of intimate partner violence?

18-24Intimate partner violence accounts for 15% of all violent crime. Women between the ages of 18-24 are most commonly abused by an intimate partner.

Is the movie The Burning Bed on Netflix?

Watch The Burning Bed on Netflix Today! NetflixMovies.com.

Where was The Burning Bed filmed?

Directed by Robert Greenwald, the film starred Farrah Fawcett as Francine Hughes and Paul Le Mat as Mickey Hughes. The house was in Rosharon, Texas. The movie was also filmed in El Monte, California.

How old was Farrah Fawcett when she made the movie Burning bed?

However, there were two things I didn't like about the movie: 1) Fawcett and Paul LeMat are about 20 years too old for the roles. The real Francine and Mickey Hughes were teenagers, only 16 and 18 respectively, when they met and married. Fawcett and LeMat were 37 and 39, basically pushing middle age.

Was Farrah Fawcett a battered wife?

The movie starring Farrah Fawcett 'The Burning Bed' was about the horrific struggles that she endured as a battered woman that left her in such mental distress and fear that she, by temporary insanity, was forced to take the life of her abusive husband.

How old was Farrah Fawcett when she passed away?

62 years (1947–2009)Farrah Fawcett / Age at deathIt's been 10 years since actress Farrah Fawcett passed away from anal cancer. Originally diagnosed with the disease in 2006, she was declared cancer-free the following year. However, the cancer returned a few months later and had metastasized to her liver. She died at the age of 62.

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What was the case of Francine Hughes?

Francine was arrested and charged with murder. Francine Hughes’ case was all too familiar to a group of feminist activists who had been trying to call attention to domestic violence for years. Ever since the fight for women’s suffrage, women had been trying to turn the tide on spousal abuse. One of the earliest political movements supported by ...

Why was Francine Hughes acquitted?

Cases like Francine Hughes’s helped draw awareness to the issue. After she was acquitted due to temporary insanity, “burning bed syndrome” became something studied by academics and used as a defense in other cases of women killing their abusers.

What happened to Francine in the house?

As the house went up in flames, she drove to the Ingham County Jail to turn herself in. By the time firefighters reached the house, her husband was dead of smoke inhalation.

When did the FBI report spousal abuse?

By 1977 , the same year that Francine Hughes killed her husband, the FBI had reported that spousal abuse was the United States’ most underreported crime. Faced with a justice system reluctant to help abused women, grassroots organizers began to raise awareness and create small-scale protections for women in danger beginning in the 1970s.

What act established a national domestic violence hotline?

A decade later, Congress passed the Violence Against Women Act, which established a national domestic violence hotline, forced all states and jurisdictions to recognize and enforce victim protection orders, and provided funding for domestic violence training for law enforcement officers, among other provisions.

When did chastisement become socially stigmatized?

Starting in the 1870s, chastisement became socially stigmatized. READ MORE: The Shocking Photo of 'Whipped Peter' That Made Slavery's Brutality Impossible to Deny. That didn’t mean that domestic abuse stopped, though. Even in the 1970s, police and courts turned a blind eye to men who beat and raped their wives.

Did Francine and Mickey have children?

Soon, Francine had four children and a husband who spent much of their money on alcohol. In 1971, she spoke with a local social worker and decided to divorce Mickey. But he ignored the divorce decree, coming and going at will and beating her. When Mickey was in a serious car crash a few weeks later, Francine took him back and nursed him to health.

Who was the woman who poured gasoline over her husband's body?

Francine Hughes, a Michigan house-wife who suffered over thirteen years of abuse by her husband, one night after a fatal attack, poured gasoline over his sleeping body, setting him on fire ultimately leading to his death. Francine was prosecuted for the crime but was acquitted due to the insanity plea. The history of abuse began with rather early on, but the couple formed a family and now shared four children, however the abuse continued (McNulty, 1980). The history of abuse Francine suffered from James, referenced as Mickey, Hughes was well documented with the Dansville police department, supported by witness testimony, as well as pictures. Unfortunately, there were no substantial laws in place for domestic violence and unless the police…show more content…

How does domestic abuse happen?

Domestic abuse occurs whenever once person in a relationship tries to dominate the other by trying to control the other individual. Abusers gain control by taking advantage of the other persons fear, guilt, shame and intimidation to wear you out and make you lose self confidence and forget your worth. Many people are denial when going through these types of abuse. Domestic abuse can get worse if nothing is done to prevent it.

How does abuse affect relationships?

Relationship abuse is typically caused by the abuser attempting to have control over their partner in regards to single arguments or in a more broad and overall way. They not only try to assert this control, but also hope to ensure that their partner will not have the chance to leave them. This dominance over their partner results in the victim having a lower self-esteem and depression. With the help of outside resources, victims of abuse come closer to leaving the relationship for good.

Who helped Francine go back to school?

That day, Francine said, he beat her viciously and forbade her from going back to school. Molly Wilson said Robert Wilson helped Francine to pursue her dream of becoming a nurse and that she graduated as the valedictorian of her class. She was an LPN and worked at several nursing homes.

Why did Francine keep it low key?

She never felt free. I think that's kind of why she kept it low key because I think she was ashamed and haunted by it.". Francine divorced Mickey Hughes in 1971 but he moved back in with her after being seriously injured in a car wreck.

How many children did Mickey and Francine have?

Francine had four children with Mickey: Christy, James, Dana and Nicole. The oldest two testified that Mickey beat Francine, would swear at her, would rip the phone out of the wall and that they often fled when he was drunk.

Who was the woman who was physically abused in the movie "Exit Full Screen"?

Exit Full Screen. For more than 12 years, Francine Hughes endured physical abuse at the hands of her husband James "Mickey" Hughes.

Who inspired the burning bed?

Francine Hughes Wilson, who inspired 'The Burning Bed,' dies at 69. For more than 12 years, Francine Hughes endured physical abuse at the hands of her husband James "Mickey" Hughes. It was 40 years ago March 9, that Hughes walked into the Ingham County Jail in Mason and confessed that, fearing for her life, she had set fire to her home in ...

Who beat Francine Hughes?

For thirteen years, Francine Hughes’s husband, James (Mickey) Hughes, beat her routinely. Something as small as the inflection of a word would set him off: he’d pin her down in a chair and pummel her. They divorced in 1971, but, later that same year, he moved back in.

When did James Hughes divorce?

They divorced in 1971, but, later that same year, he moved back in. “She did try to get away,” her son, James Hughes, remembers in “The Burning Bed,” a new short documentary from Retro Report. “But he would also tell her, ‘There is nowhere you can go, bitch, that I won’t find you.’. ”.

How long was Hunter in prison?

Last year, Hunter was granted clemency and released, after serving fifteen years. Since the late nineteen-seventies, the number of women in the prison system has grown by more than eight hundred per cent—twice the rate of increase for men—and a majority of them have been victims of domestic violence.

Who is Mary Anne Franks?

Mary Anne Franks, a professor at the University of Miami School of Law, argues in a paper titled “ Real Men Advance, Real Women Retreat ” that Stand Your Ground laws mostly benefit white males with guns (as in the case of George Zimmerman, who shot and killed Trayvon Martin ).

Who is Hunter's lawyer?

The truth is more complicated, and the perspective of Hunter’s lawyer, Tiffanny Smith, who represents ten women who are incarcerated survivors of domestic violence, offers a corrective: “A woman doesn’t go on a first date, get punched in the face, and stay with this person. What happens is very calculating, very slow.”.

Who coined the term "battered woman syndrome"?

He invoked an idea that would come to be known as “battered-woman syndrome,” a term coined by the psychologist Lenore Walker, based on her research with abused women in the U.S. and the U.K. Walker identified an assemblage of psychological symptoms—fear, guilt, and denial—that occurs in victims of intimate-partner abuse.

What was the story of Francine Hughes?

Women's issues had gained traction. Her case became a cause very quickly. [Woman] The story of Francine Hughes. made its way around feminists circles, and within a few weeks it gave rise to a movement.

What did Francine feel about the jury?

Francine felt like somebody was caring. about her for the first time in a long time. It actually made the jury more empathetic, and it actually made her understand more. how lonely and how desperate her situation was. I did not think that I could convince a jury, necessarily, that she was not guilty.

Who was Ms Hunter's boyfriend?

Ms. Hunter's boyfriend, Andrew Harris, had nine stab wounds and he bled to death. A patrol officer arrived at the scene. A homicide detective arrived at the scene, and two paramedics arrived at the scene. Pretty much, the only thing out of her mouth at that time.

Did Francine Hughes have a relationship?

is that it turned out Francine Hughes, while taking business courses at the local business college, had a relationship and she would send love letters, which suggested that she had a different motivation. [Arjen] She only met him once or twice. and he was nice to her. Francine felt like somebody was caring.