Oklahoma 2024 2024 Regular Session

Oklahoma House Bill HB1639 Engrossed / Bill

Filed 03/23/2023

                     
 
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ENGROSSED HOUSE 
BILL NO. 1639 	By: Hasenbeck, Stark, Boatman, 
Conley, Roberts, Bashore, 
Lawson, and Roe of the 
House 
 
   and 
 
  Daniels of the Senate 
 
 
 
 
 
[ sentencing - Oklahoma Domestic Abuse Survivorship 
Act - mitigating factors - documentary evidence - 
discretion to depart from applica ble sentences – 
evaluation - annual education and training – 
codification - effective date ] 
 
 
 
 
BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA: 
SECTION 1.     NEW LAW     A new section of law to be codified 
in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 1090 of Title 22, unless there 
is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows: 
Sections 1 through 4 of this act shall be known and may be cited 
as the "Oklahoma Domestic Abuse Survivorship Ac t". 
SECTION 2.     NEW LAW     A new section of law to be codified 
in the Oklahoma Statu tes as Section 1090.1 of Title 22, unless there 
is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows: 
As used in this act:   
 
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1.  "Conditional release" means a type of release from custody 
that is not parole but which must comply with conditions such as 
electronic monitoring; 
2.  "Deferred sentence" means a type of sentence as provided in 
Section 991c of Title 22 of the Oklahoma Statu tes; 
3.  "Domestic abuse" means any act of physical harm or the 
threat of imminent physical harm which is committed by an adult, 
emancipated minor, or minor child thirteen (13) years of age or 
older against another adult, emancipated minor or minor child who is 
currently or was previously an intimate partner or family or 
household member; 
4.  "Physical abuse" means any real or threatened physical 
injury or damage to the body that is not accidental ; 
5.  "Posttraumatic stress disorder" means the same as such term 
is defined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental 
Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5, 2013), and occurred as a result of 
the victimization of a survivor; 
6. "Psychological abuse" means a pattern of real or threatened 
mental intimidation, threats, coercive control, economic-financial 
control, and humiliation that is intended to provoke fear of harm ; 
and 
7.  "Sentencing hearing" means a type of postconviction hearing 
in which the defendant is brought before the court for imposition of 
the sentence.   
 
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SECTION 3.   NEW LAW    A new section of law to be codified 
in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 1090.2 of Title 22, unless there 
is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows : 
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 abuse, and has been 
charged with the crime against his or her intimate partner where 
self-defense could have been raised as an affirmative defense, the 
court shall consider as a mitigati ng factor that the person has been 
abused physically, sexually, or psychologically by the person the 
defendant defended his or herself against; 
B. The defendant shall provide to the co urt evidence including, 
but not limited to: 
1.  Documentary evidence, corroborating that the defendant was, 
at the time of the offense or within one (1) year prior to the 
commission of the offense, a victim of domestic abuse, as such term 
is defined in Section 2 of this act, perpetrated by the person the 
defendant defended his or herself against; and 
2.  At least one piece of documentary evidence shall be a court 
record, presentence report, social services record, hospital record, 
sworn statement from a witness to the domestic violence who is not 
the defendant, law enforcement record, domestic incident report, or 
order of protection.   
 
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Other evidence may include, but shall not be limited to, local 
jail records or records of the Department of Corrections, 
documentation prepared at or near the time of the commission of the 
offense or the prosecution thereof tending to support the claims of 
the person, or verification of consu ltation with a licensed medic al 
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, or rape crisis counselor , or other 
advocate acting on behalf of an agency that assists vic tims of 
domestic abuse. Expert testimony from a psychiatrist, psycholog ist, 
or mental health professional showing that the defendant has been 
diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder may also be submitted 
to the court as evidence. 
C. If the court finds by a preponderance of the e vidence that 
the defendant is a survivor of domestic abuse within one (1) year 
prior to or on the date of the offense by the person the defendant 
defended his or herself ag ainst, then the court shall have the 
discretion to depart from the applicable sentence.  Furthermore, if 
the defendant is pregnant at the time of sentencing, the court shall 
be authorized to give due re gard to such condition of the defe ndant 
when departing from the applicable sentence. 
D.  Within seventy-two (72) hours after the arrest of a person 
described in subsection A of this section, a psychological or 
psychiatric evaluation routinely used by the Department of Mental   
 
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Health and Substance Abuse Se rvices shall be administ ered to the 
defendant.  The evaluation shall be trauma-informed and take into 
consideration possible common diagnoses for abuse victims such as 
acute stress disorder and posttraumatic stress disorder. The 
results of the evalu ation shall be forwarded to th e defendant and 
submitted to the court as evidence.  The Department shall conduct 
the evaluation at no cost.  Should the defendant choose to defer the 
evaluation by the Department in favor of an evaluation conducted by 
a private practitioner, the evaluation by the Department shall be 
considered waived.  It shall be the responsib ility of the defendant 
to bear the cost of any evaluation conducted by a private 
practitioner. 
SECTION 4.     NEW LAW     A new section of law to be codified 
in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 1090.3 of Title 22, unless there 
is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows: 
A. Any district attorney, assistant district attorney, public 
defender, assistant public defender, attorney employ ed by or under 
contract with the Oklahoma Indigent Defense System, court -appointed 
attorney, private defense attorneys, or attorney employed by or 
under contract with a district court whose duties include domestic 
violence responsibility shall complete at least three (3) hours of 
education and training annually in courses relating to the topics 
described in paragraph 1 of subsection A of this section.  The 
education and training requirements may be accomplished through a   
 
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collaborative effort between the judiciary and others with dome stic 
violence responsibilities. 
B. Each judicial district shall be responsible for developing 
and administering procedures and rules for such courses for 
attorneys identified in paragraph 1 of this subsection whose duties 
routinely include domestic violen ce responsibilities.  The chief 
judge of each judicial district, or any designee judge with domestic 
violence case responsibilities, shal l carry out this mandate within 
one (1) year of the effective date of this act. 
SECTION 5.     AMENDATORY     22 O.S . 2021, Section 982, is 
amended to read as follows: 
Section 982. A.  Whenever a person is convicted of a violent 
felony offense whether the conviction is for a single offense or 
part of any combination of offenses, except when the death sentence 
is available as punishment for the of fense, the court may, be fore 
imposing the sentence, require a presentence investigation be mad e 
of the offender by the Department of Corrections.  The court shall 
order the defendant to pay a fee to the Department of Corrections of 
not less than Fifty Doll ars ($50.00) nor more th an Five Hundred 
Dollars ($500.00) for the presentence investigation.  In hardship 
cases, the court may reduce the amount of the fee and establish a 
payment schedule. 
B.  Whenever a person has a prior felo ny conviction and enters a 
plea of guilty or nolo co ntendere to a felony offense other than a   
 
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violent felony offense, with out an agreement by the district 
attorney regarding the sentence to be imposed, the court may order a 
presentence investigation be mad e by the Department of Corre ctions.  
The fee provided in subsection A of this section shall apply to 
persons subject to th is subsection. 
C.  Whenever a person has entered a plea of not guilty to a 
nonviolent felony offense and is found guilty by a court fo llowing a 
non-jury trial, the court may require a pr esentence investigation be 
made by the Department of Corrections.  The fee provided in 
subsection A of this section shall apply to persons subject to this 
subsection. 
D.  When conducting a presentence inv estigation, the Department 
shall inquire into the ci rcumstances of the offense and the 
characteristics of the offender.  T he information obtained from the 
investigation shall include, but not be limited to, a voluntary 
statement from each victim of the off ense concerning the nature o f 
the offense and the im pact of the offense on the victim and the 
immediate family of the vict im, the amount of the loss suffered or 
incurred by the victim as a result of the criminal conduct of the 
offender, and the age, marita l status, living arrangement s, 
financial obligations , income, family history and education, prior 
juvenile and criminal re cords, prior abusive relationships, prior 
sexual assaults, prior experiences being human trafficked , 
associations with other persons c onvicted of a felony offense,   
 
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social history, indica tions of a predisposition to violence or 
substance abuse, remorse or g uilt about the offense or the harm to 
the victim, job skills and employment history of the offender.  The 
Department shall make a repo rt of information from such 
investigation to the cou rt, including a recommendation detailing the 
punishment which is deeme d appropriate for both the offense and the 
offender, and specifically a recommendation for or against probation 
or suspended sentence.  The report of the investigation shall be 
presented to the judge within a reasonable time, and upon failure to 
present the report, the judge may proceed with sentencing. 
Whenever, in the opinion of the court or the Department, it is 
desirable, the invest igation shall include a physical and mental 
examination or either a physical or mental examination of the 
offender. 
E.  The district attorney may have a presentence investigation 
made by the Department on each person charged with a violent felony 
offense and entering a plea of guilty or a plea of nolo conte ndere 
as part of or in exchange for a plea agreement for a violent fel ony 
offense.  The presentence investigation shall be completed before 
the terms of the plea agreement are finalized.  The court shall not 
approve the terms of any plea agreement without reviewing the 
presentence investigation report to determine whether or not the 
terms of the sentence are appropriate for both the offender and the 
offense.  The fee provided in subsection A of this sectio n shall   
 
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apply to persons subject to this subsection and shall be a condition 
of the plea agreement and sentence. 
F.  The presentence investigation reports specified in this 
section shall not be referred to, or be considered, in any appeal 
proceedings.  Before imposing a sentence, the court shall advise the 
defendant, counsel for the defendant, and the district attorney of 
the factual contents and conclusions of the presentence 
investigation report.  The court shall afford the offender a fair 
opportunity to controvert the findings and conclusions of the 
reports at the time of sentencing.  If either the defendant or the 
district attorney desires, a hearing shall be set by the court to 
allow both parties an opportunity to offer evidence proving or 
disproving any finding contained in a report, which shall be a 
hearing in mitigation or aggravation of punishment. 
G.  The required pre sentence investigation and report may be 
waived upon written waiver by the district attorney and the 
defendant and upon approval by th e Court. 
H.  As used in this section, "violent felony offense" means: 
1.  Arson in the first degree; 
2.  Assault with a da ngerous weapon, battery with a dangerous 
weapon or assault and battery with a dangerous weapon; 
3.  Aggravated assault and battery on a police officer, sheriff, 
highway patrol officer, o r any other officer of the law;   
 
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4.  Assault with intent to kill, or sh ooting with intent to 
kill; 
5. Assault with intent to commit a felony, or use of a firearm 
to commit a felony; 
6.  Assault while mask ed or disguised; 
7.  Burglary in the first degree or burglary with explosives; 
8.  Child beating or maiming; 
9.  Forcible sodomy; 
10.  Kidnapping, or kidnapping for extortion; 
11.  Lewd or indecent proposition or lewd or indecent acts with 
a child; 
12.  Manslaughter in the first or second degrees; 
13.  Murder in the first or second degrees; 
14.  Rape in the first or second de grees, or rape by 
instrumentation; 
15.  Robbery in the first or second degrees, or robbery by two 
or more persons, or robbery with a d angerous weapon; or 
16.  Any attempt, solicitation o r conspiracy to commit any of 
the above enumerated offenses. 
SECTION 6.  This act shall becom e effective November 1, 2023.   
 
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Passed the House of Representatives the 22nd day of March, 2023. 
 
 
 
  
 	Presiding Officer of the House 
 	of Representatives 
 
 
 
Passed the Senate the ___ day of __________, 2023. 
 
 
 
  
 	Presiding Officer of the Senate