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Battered woman defense rarely works; Trial to begin in Nantucket slaying; Tuckernuck wind farm proposed

Experts say battered woman defense rarely results in acquittals

BARNSTABLE, Mass. --When Dr. Ann Gryboski walked into a Cape Cod courtroom to face a murder charge, her defense was as clear as the cuts and bruises on her face.

Gryboski shot and killed her husband of nearly three decades in April -- finally snapping, her lawyer says, after years of physical and mental abuse. She was ordered held on an unusually low bail of $50,000 -- the prosecutor even conceded there were "mitigating factors."

Still, despite the obvious signs of trauma and being in a state where courts have been sympathetic to battered women, there is no guarantee she will escape prison time. Experts and advocates say evoking battered woman syndrome in self-defense rarely gets women off completely.

The strategy works best when the defendant is a white, middle-class woman who has done what people have asked her to do, from getting a restraining order to trying to get into a shelter, said Sarah Buel, a clinical professor at the University of Texas School of Law. "It doesn't work as well in pretty much any other case," said Buel, who has worked with battered women for three decades...  Read the rest of this Globe story here.
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Trial to begin for ex-NY exec in Nantucket slaying of girlfriend

NANTUCKET - The last time Robert Foster saw his friend Beth Lochtefeld on right, she was chatting excitedly about her impressive new boyfriend, a Columbia-educated former New York bank executive who shared her love for art, music and literature.

Lochtefeld, a 44-year-old high-powered New York entrepreneur, longed to finally get married and start a family, and she had high hopes for Thomas Toolan III  "As we were parting, she held up two crossed fingers, like, maybe he's the one," recalled Foster.

Two weeks later, Lochtefeld was dead... Read the rest of this Newday story here.
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Island town eyes wind farm south of Tuckernuck to satisfy energy needs

An offshore wind farm south of Tuckernuck Island – completely separate from the one proposed by Cape Wind Associates in Nantucket Sound – that could meet Nantucket’s energy needs, is currently being pursued by town officials from Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard, as well as Congressman Bill Delahunt.

The concept has already been endorsed by the Nantucket Planning & Economic Development Commission, which recently drafted a letter to the federal Minerals Management Service, the agency responsible for permitting offshore wind energy projects in federal waters, regarding such a project...  Reac the rest of this I&Q story here.