Bill protecting domestic abuse survivors who kill their abusers passes in Okla. Senate

TULSA, Okla. (KTUL) — Oklahomans who fight back against an intimate partner who is abusing them are one step closer to being protected under new legislation.

TheOklahoma Domestic Abuse Survivorship Actwas passed in the full Senate by a vote of 46-1. The bill unanimously passed the full House in March.

I think it just speaks to how horrible of a problem it is," said Colleen McCarty, executive director of the Oklahoma Appleseed Center for Law and Justice. "Domestic violence numbers are so bad, the women's incarceration numbers are so bad and we really love self-defense in this state. It's the trifecta of things this bill attacks."

The new framework would allow the court more discretion when examining the role domestic abuse may have played in the defendant committing the crime, and potentially shorten the sentence.

In order for a court to consider sentencing mitigation, a defendant charged with a crime against an intimate partner where self-defense could be raised, would have to submit evidence that the abuse occurred within a year of the offense: a protective order, law enforcement record, hospital records and a sworn statement from a witness of the abuse could be provided to the court.

Previous versions of the bill included sentencing ranges, but as it stands now if a sentence is reduced, and by how much, would be left up to the court.

“I think what [Hasenbeck’s] identified is there’s a breakdown in how we prosecute the victim,” said Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond.

According to theOklahoma Appleseed Center for Law and Justice, Oklahoma prisons are filled with hundreds of criminalized survivors — abuse victims who fight back against an abuser or who are covered by them into committing a crime.

Many of the situations are far from black and white. Advocates for criminalized survivors say, oftentimes, the abuse is hidden or not reported for numerous reasons, including out of fear, which can make it difficult to prove in a court of law.

There are people who use victimhood as a defense when in fact they were not victims," said Drummond, who noted the complexities of cases. “But, I absolutely believe there are a lot of victims that need to be empowered to strike back against the perpetrator and those people should be protected.”

Oklahoma has long had a dubious distinction when it comes to domestic violence. More women are killed by men in the statethan in almost any other andmore women are imprisoned in Oklahoma per capitathan almost every other state.

The Oklahoma District Council has yet to comment onHB 1639, despite numerous attempts from NewsChannel 8 who has been covering the issue since before the bill went public.

At the beginning of February, the agency’s assistant executive coordinator said theDistrict Attorneys Councilwould "reserve judgment" until the final bill was drafted and later told it "would not be prudent to comment at this time."

The Senate author expressed concern in committee from the DAC with a retroactive component of a previous version of HB 1639, during a committee meeting, which has since been removed.

April Wilkens, who isserving a life sentence for killing the man in 1998 who she said raped and abused her, is one of the women behind bars in Oklahoma who could have applied for a sentencing review hearing, under the original version of HB1639.

“It's wrong to leave criminalized survivors who are already in prison behind,” said Wilkens who wanted to “thank” legislators for this “monumental” step but also pleaded for them not to stop.

“They need to help correct the injustices that have already occurred to survivors in prison," she continued. "It's the right thing to do.”

Wilkens has been locked up for more than half her life and has had every parole and appeal denied. This month, theOklahoma Court of Criminal Appealsdenied Wilkens’ attempt to receive post-conviction relief after her lawyers argued evidence in her case was suppressed.

She told KTUL she was hopeful an audio recording that was inadmissible in her trial could have provided more context.

“Making this legislation retroactive could mean I won't die in a cage,” Wilkens said, who spoke to KTUL from her cell inside Mabel Bassett Correctional Center.

Over the past few months, the mother and grandmother have found themselves taking on a new role of advocate for fellow domestic abuse survivors and keeping them updated on the progress of HB 1639, including breaking the news that none of them would be eligible for sentencing relief.

“The pain that I saw in people’s faces, it broke my heart,” admitted Wilkens. “They want to feel like their lives matter too.”

The bill now heads to conference on the House side to finalize the language of it. It will then have a final vote on the House floor.