Criminal Law & Procedure: Criminal Offenses: Crimes Against the Person: Domestic Offenses

In some states, legislatures have recently enacted laws that grant the possibility of clemency by the states' governors for domestic violence victims who have been convicted of certain offenses, such as murder and manslaughter. In those states, the governors are entitled to request a clemency investigation by the states' parole boards into cases where defendants have pleaded guilty or have been convicted of those offenses when the offenses were directly related to the defendants' being victimized by domestic violence.


Where such laws have been enacted, a state's governor may require the state's parol board to contact the officials in a defendant's trial, such as the sheriff, the prosecuting attorney, or the trial judge, for information regarding the possibility of a pardon or clemency for the defendant. The governor may also ask the state's department of children and families to identify children who have been convicted of certain offenses and who have been victims of domestic violence.


Where such laws have been enacted, defendants are either granted pardons or some other form of clemency if there is proof of extenuating circumstances of domestic violence or abuse. The defendants' offenses may include capital murder, murder, voluntary manslaughter, or involuntary manslaughter. In addition, the victim of the defendants' offenses must be a family member or a former family member, a household member or a former household member, a partner or a former partner, or a "significant other" or a former "significant other."


A state's parole board will usually conduct some sort of screening process in order to determine whether a defendant is eligible for a pardon or some other type of clemency. The parole board then contacts the defendant in order to determine whether the defendant wants to be considered for clemency. The defendant may decline to be considered for clemency. If the defendant requests that he or she be considered for clemency, the defendant is usually required to file additional information with the parole board. Such information usually includes documentation as to the defendant's physical, sexual, or psychological abuse by the defendant's victim. The information may also include a personal written statement by the defendant or affidavits by the defendant's family members or other witnesses. Police reports, medical records, court documents, or other records may also be included. The parole board will usually require a psychological evaluation of the defendant.


If a state's parole board determines that a defendant was involved in family violence, the parole board will send a notice to the sheriff, the prosecuting attorney, and the trial judge in the county in which the defendant was convicted, as well as a notice to a close relative of the defendant's victim.


If a state's parole board determines that a defendant should be granted some type of clemency, the parole board may parole the defendant or it may commute the defendant's sentence. The parole board may also recommend a full pardon by the state's governor. The governor may accept or reject the parole board's recommendation for a full pardon.

Copyright 2006 LexisNexis, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc.