Legislation filed in the House of Representatives by an ex-law enforcement officer would allow evidence of a prior bad act to be used to prosecute someone accused of domestic abuse.
Under House Bill 1035 by freshman Rep. Johnny Tadlock, former McCurtain County sheriff, evidence that a defendant accused of domestic violence committed a previous act of domestic battery would be admissible “and may be considered for its bearing on any matter to which it is relevant." Moreover, the defendant would not necessarily have to have been convicted of the prior domestic violence offense for the evidence to be used in court.
“It could be introduced as evidence of that person's propensity to commit that crime," Tadlock explained.
The district attorney would be required by law to disclose that evidence to the defendant, for use in his/her defense. In addition, the presiding judge would “decide whether the evidence is competent" before it could be presented to the jury, McCurtain County Assistant District Attorney Emily Maxwell Herron said.
As a general rule, evidence of a previous crime cannot be used to incriminate a defendant in another crime, but only to determine the severity of punishment for that person after he/she is convicted. However, there are exceptions, Tadlock noted.
Herron collaborated with Tadlock in developing HB 1035, whose provisions are almost identical to the state law regarding sexual assault cases, they both said.
HB 1035 will be one of more than a thousand measures the Legislature will consider this year when it reconvenes at the State Capitol Feb. 2.
The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI) counted 22,801 domestic violence offenses in 2013 (the latest year for which statistics have been compiled). That number included 49 homicides, 828 sex crimes, 2,076 assaults, and 19,848 incidents of assault and battery.
During the three-year period of 2011-13 the OSBI logged 72,322 incidents of domestic violence, an average of more than 24,100 each year.
However, reports of domestic abuse in 2013 were 11.9% fewer than they were in 2005, when 25,893 domestic violence reports were recorded.
Oklahoma ranked third in the nation in 2011 in the number of women killed by men. One-fourth of all women in Oklahoma will be a domestic violence victim in their lifetime, research indicates. Typically in this state it's a man who murders his wife or girlfriend; of the 47 domestic violence homicides that occurred in 2011 in Oklahoma, 38 were women murdered by men.
In addition, about two-thirds of the children in homes where domestic violence occurs are physically abused.