By Yepoka Yeebo
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN SUPREME COURT — Lawyers argued Wednesday over whether a Harlem woman on trial for allegedly murdering her husband had been the victim of domestic violence before the incident.
Donna Cobb, 42, said her husband, Kevin Cobb, was habitually abusive and had choked her in their bedroom on the night of his death in November 2006, prompting her to defend herself.
Psychologist Dr. Dawn Hughes testified that Donna Cobb had the symptoms of a woman who was battered over a period of time, noting that abused women do not always tell friends and family or call the police for help. She explained that Cobb's mental state was consistent with someone suffering the traumatic affects of domestic violence.
But prosecutors attempted to prove that Donna Cobb did not behave like a battered woman, pointing out possible inconsistencies in her testimony about what she did before she dialed 911. They questioned why Cobb originally told police she stabbed her husband with a steak knife when investigators found that it was in fact a butter knife.
Hughes noted that the key facts were not in dispute, and that Donna Cobb repeatedly spoke of "the ultimate act of being choked... and feeling faint and feeling that her husband was finally going to kill her."
Cobb testified previously that she did not mean to kill her husband when she stabbed him and threw an elephant-shaped ceramic item at his head inside their St. Nicholas Avenue apartment.
She faces 25 years to life in prison if convicted of the top charge of second-degree murder. Her children are expected to testify this week.
