Working

This case is about a woman pushed to her breaking point by a husband who continually abused her with threats and lies until one day she snapped and shot him. It is also about a district court’s exercise of discretion to depart downward from the applicable Sentencing Guideline range because it found that her behavior was “aberrant.”

I.

Brenda and Michael Working were married on September 8, 1990. At the time, Michael had two young sons from an earlier marriage. Later, Brenda and Michael had two daughters.

Despite outward appearances, their family was troubled. Michael was psychologically and verbally abusive toward his sons and toward Brenda. Before Michael’s oldest son graduated from high school, Michael permanently kicked him out of the house. Things came to a head in early 1997 when Michael accused Brenda of having an inappropriate relationship with his other son.

After the accusation, Michael moved out of the house and into a cottage on the premises. Brenda stayed in the house with the remaining children. But Michael continued to come into the house at will and harass Brenda with false accusations about her relationship with his son. He towered over her, yelled at her,…