Amends TCA Title 36, Chapter 6, Part 3; Title 38 and Title 39.

Present law specifies 18 aggravating circumstances, at least one of which must be present in order for an offender to be sentenced to death or life without possibility of parole. This bill adds as an additional aggravating circumstance that a murder was committed against a person who, in relation to the defendant, would qualify as a domestic abuse victim under present law. Present law defines "domestic abuse victim" to mean any person who falls within the following categories:<br /> <br /> (1) Adults or minors who are current or former spouses;<br /> <br /> (2) Adults or minors who live together or who have lived together;<br /> <br /> (3) Adults or minors who are dating or who have dated or who have or had a sexual relationship;<br /> <br /> (4) Adults or minors related by blood or adoption;<br /> <br /> (5) Adults or minors who are related or were formerly related by marriage; or<br /> <br /> (6) Adult or minor children of a person in a relationship that is described in (1)-(5).<br /> <br /> Under present law, strangulation is an aggravating circumstance for which an intentional or knowing assault is enhanced to an aggravated assault. Strangulation is not an aggravating circumstance to enhance a reckless assault to an aggravated assault. Present law defines "strangulation" to mean intentionally or knowingly impeding normal breathing or circulation of the blood by applying pressure to the throat or neck or by blocking the nose and mouth of another person, regardless of whether that conduct results in any visible injury or whether the person has any intent to kill or protractedly injure the victim. This bill adds strangulation as an aggravating circumstance to enhance a reckless assault to an aggravated assault. This bill does not specify what classification of offense a reckless aggravated assault by strangulation will be. Under present law, an unspecified offense is a misdemeanor and a misdemeanor for which no punishment is specified is sentenced as a Class A misdemeanor.<br /> <br /> This bill requires each law enforcement agency to adopt a written policy requiring officers to screen the victim of any offense involving domestic violence or violation of a protection order with an evidence-based lethality assessment screening to determine if the case should be referred to local or regional domestic violence advocacy services. The<br /> <br /> screening may be carried out by a domestic violence support organization.<br /> <br /> This bill requires TACIR to study existing laws and policies to protect victims of domestic violence throughout the judicial process, the prevalence of dropped or amended domestic violence charges, and the number of cases in which a charge of an offense involving domestic violence was dropped and the victim of domestic violence later became the victim of a homicide. This bill requires TACIR to submit a report of its findings and recommendations to the general assembly no later than March 1, 2022.<br />