South Carolina § 16-25-65 Domestic violence of a high and aggravated nature; elements; penalty; statutory offense.

South Carolina Statutes

§ 16-25-65 — Domestic violence of a high and aggravated nature; elements; penalty; statutory offense.

South Carolina § 16-25-65

Title 16CRIMES AND OFFENSES

Ch. 25DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

This text of South Carolina § 16-25-65 (Domestic violence of a high and aggravated nature; elements; penalty; statutory offense.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering South Carolina primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook

S.C. Code Ann. § 16-25-65 (2026).

Text

(A)A person who violates Section 16-25-20(A) is guilty of the offense of domestic violence of a high and aggravated nature when one of the following occurs. The person:

(1)commits the offense under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life and great bodily injury to the victim results;

(2)commits the offense, with or without an accompanying battery and under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life, and would reasonably cause a person to fear imminent great bodily injury or death; or (3) violates a protection order and, in the process of violating the order, commits domestic violence in the first degree.

(B)A person who violates subsection (A) is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, must be imprisoned for not more tha

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(A) A person who violates Section 16-25-20(A) is guilty of the offense of domestic violence of a high and aggravated nature when one of the following occurs. The person: (1) commits the offense under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life and great bodily injury to the victim results; (2) commits the offense, with or without an accompanying battery and under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life, and would reasonably cause a person to fear imminent great bodily injury or death; or (3) violates a protection order and, in the process of violating the order, commits domestic violence in the first degree. (B) A person who violates subsection (A) is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, must be imprisoned for not more than twenty years. (C) The provisions of subsection (A) create a statutory offense of domestic violence of a high and aggravated nature and must not be construed to codify the common law crime of assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature. (D) Circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life include, but are not limited to, the following: (1) using a deadly weapon; (2) knowingly and intentionally impeding the normal breathing or circulation of the blood of a household member by applying pressure to the throat or neck or by obstructing the nose or mouth of a household member and thereby causing stupor or loss of consciousness for any period of time; (3) committing the offense in the presence of a minor; (4) committing the offense against a person he knew, or should have known, to be pregnant; (5) committing the offense during the commission of a robbery, burglary, kidnapping, or theft; or (6) using physical force against another to block that person's access to any cell phone, telephone, or electronic communication device with the purpose of preventing, obstructing, or interfering with: (a) the report of any criminal offense, bodily injury, or property damage to a law enforcement agency; or (b) a request for an ambulance or emergency medical assistance to any law enforcement agency or emergency medical provider.

Legislative History

HISTORY: 1994 Act No. 519, SECTION 1; 2003 Act No. 92, SECTION 3, eff January 1, 2004; 2005 Act No. 166, SECTION 3, eff January 1, 2006; 2015 Act No. 58 (S.3), Pt II, SECTION 5, eff June 4, 2015. Editor's Note 2010 Act No. 273, SECTION 7.C, provides: "Wherever in the 1976 Code of Laws reference is made to the common law offense of assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature, it means assault and battery with intent to kill, as contained in repealed Section 16-3-620, and, except for references in Section 16-1-60 and Section 17-25-45, wherever in the 1976 Code reference is made to assault and battery with intent to kill, it means attempted murder as defined in Section 16-3-29." Effect of Amendment 2015 Act No. 58, SECTION 5, rewrote (A) and (B); in (C), deleted "criminal" before "domestic violence"; and added (D).