§ 22-1090.3 — Sentencing or accepting plea of a domestic abuse

Oklahoma § 22-1090.3

• Jurisdiction: Oklahoma
• Title 22: Criminal Procedure

Text

survivor — Mitigating factor — Departure. A. During a hearing to: 1. Sentence a person; or 2. Accept a plea of guilty, for a person who is a survivor of domestic violence and has been charged with a crime, the court shall consider as a mitigating factor that the person has been abused physically, sexually, or psychologically by the person’s sexual partner, family member or member of the household, the trafficker of the person, or other individual who used the person for financial gain. B. The defendant shall provide to the court evidence including but not limited to: 1. Documentary evidence corroborating that the defendant was, at the time of the offense, a victim of domestic violence; and 2. At least one piece of documentary evidence that is a court record, presentence report, social services record, hospital record, sworn statement from a witness to the domestic violence or abuse who is not the defendant, law enforcement record, domestic incident report, or protective order. Other evidence may include, but not be limited to, local jail records or records of the Department of Corrections, documentation prepared at or near the time of the commission or prosecution of the offense tending to support the claims of the defendant, or verification of consultation with a licensed medical care provider or mental health care provider, employee of a court acting within the scope of his or her employment, member of the clergy, attorney, social worker, rape crisis counselor, or other advocate acting on behalf of an agency that assists victims of domestic violence or abuse. Expert testimony from a psychiatrist, psychologist, or mental health professional showing that the defendant has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of the violence or abuse at issue may also be submitted to the court as evidence. C. If the court finds by clear and convincing evidence that at the time of the offense the defendant was a survivor of domestic violence or subjected to physical, sexual, or psychological abuse inflicted by a sexual partner, a family member or member of the household, the trafficker of the defendant, or any person who used the defendant for financial gain, and that the violence or abuse was related to and was a substantial contributing factor in causing the defendant to commit the offense or to the defendant’s criminal behavior, the court shall depart from the applicable sentence to the ranges provided as follows: 1. Sentences of life without the possibility of parole shall be reduced to thirty (30) years or less; 2. Sentences of life with the possibility of parole shall be reduced to twenty-five (25) years or less; 3. Sentences of thirty (30) years or more shall be reduced to twenty (20) years or less; 4. Sentences of twenty (20) years or more shall be reduced to fifteen (15) years or less; 5. Sentences of fifteen (15) years or more shall be reduced to seven and one-half (7 1/2) years or less; and 6. Sentences of eight (8) years or more shall be reduced to five (5) years or less. D. If the offense is one listed in Section 571 of Title 57 of the Oklahoma Statutes, the defendant must prove by clear and convincing evidence that either the victim was the perpetrator of the domestic violence, physical, sexual, or psychological abuse by a sexual partner, a family or household member, the trafficker of the defendant, or a person who used the defendant for financial gain, or the offense was coerced by the perpetrator. E. The provisions of this section shall not apply to a person convicted of: 1. An offense that would require the person to register as a sex offender; 2. An attempt or conspiracy to commit an offense that would require the person to register as a sex offender; 3. An offense specified in subsection A of Section 843.3 of Title 21 of the Oklahoma Statutes; 4. An offense specified in subsection A of Section 843.5 of Title 21 of the Oklahoma Statutes; or 5. An offense for which the person has received a sentence of death.

Legislative History

Added by Laws 2024, c. 331, § 3