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

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

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:

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 22. Criminal Procedure

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

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 22. Criminal Procedure

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.

Added by Laws 2024, c. 331, § 3