US Laws, Codes, Statutes & Cases

                                  TITLE  18
                            CRIMES AND PUNISHMENTS
                                  CHAPTER 9
                             ASSAULT AND BATTERY
    18-918.  DOMESTIC VIOLENCE. (1) For the purpose of this section:
    (a)  "Household member" means a person who is a spouse, former spouse, or
    a person who has a child in common regardless of whether they have been
    married or a person with whom a person is cohabiting, whether or not they
    have married or have held themselves out to be husband or wife.
    (b)  "Traumatic injury" means a condition of the body, such as a wound or
    external or internal injury, whether of a minor or serious nature, caused
    by physical force.
    (2)  (a) Any household member who in committing a battery, as defined in
    section 18-903, Idaho Code, inflicts a traumatic injury upon any other
    household member is guilty of a felony.
    (b)  A conviction of felony domestic battery is punishable by imprisonment
    in the state prison for a term not to exceed ten (10) years or by a fine
    not to exceed ten thousand dollars ($10,000) or by both fine and
    imprisonment.
    (3)  (a) A household member who commits an assault, as defined in section
    18-901, Idaho Code, against another household member which does not result
    in traumatic injury is guilty of a misdemeanor domestic assault.
    (b)  A household member who commits a battery, as defined in section
    18-903, Idaho Code, against another household member which does not result
    in traumatic injury is guilty of a misdemeanor domestic battery.
    (c)  A first conviction under this subsection (3) is punishable by a fine
    not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000) or by imprisonment in a county
    jail not to exceed six (6) months, or both. Any person who pleads guilty
    to or is found guilty of a violation of this subsection (3) who previously
    has pled guilty to or been found guilty of a violation of this subsection
    (3), or of any substantially conforming foreign criminal violation,
    notwithstanding the form of the judgment or withheld judgment, within ten
    (10) years of the first conviction, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and
    shall be punished by imprisonment in the county jail for a term not to
    exceed one (1) year or by a fine not exceeding two thousand dollars
    ($2,000) or by both fine and imprisonment. Any person who pleads guilty to
    or is found guilty of a violation of this subsection (3) who previously
    has pled guilty to or been found guilty of two (2) violations of this
    subsection (3), or of any substantially conforming foreign criminal
    violation or any combination thereof, notwithstanding the form of the
    judgment or withheld judgment, within fifteen (15) years of the first
    conviction, shall be guilty of a felony and shall be punished by
    imprisonment in the state prison for a term not to exceed five (5) years
    or by a fine not to exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000) or by both fine
    and imprisonment.
    (4)  The maximum penalties provided in this section shall be doubled where
the act of domestic assault or battery for which the person is convicted or
pleads guilty took place in the presence of a child. For purposes of this
section, "in the presence of a child" means in the physical presence of a
child or knowing that a child is present and may see or hear an act of
domestic assault or battery. For purposes of this section, "child" means a
person under sixteen (16) years of age.
    (5)  Notwithstanding any other provisions of this section, any person who
previously has pled guilty to or been found guilty of a felony violation of
the provisions of this section or of any substantially conforming foreign
criminal felony violation, notwithstanding the form of the judgment or
withheld judgment, and who within fifteen (15) years pleads guilty to or is
found guilty of any further violation of this section, shall be guilty of a
felony and shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for a term
not to exceed ten (10) years or by a fine not to exceed ten thousand dollars
($10,000), or by both such fine and imprisonment.
    (6)  For the purposes of this section, a substantially conforming foreign
criminal violation exists when a person has pled guilty to or been found
guilty of a violation of any federal law or law of another state, or any valid
county, city or town ordinance of another state, substantially conforming with
the provisions of this section. The determination of whether a foreign
criminal violation is substantially conforming is a question of law to be
determined by the court.
    (7)  (a) Any person who pleads guilty to or is found guilty of a violation
    of this section shall undergo, at the person's own expense, an evaluation
    by a person, agency or organization approved by the court in accordance
    with paragraph (c) of this subsection to determine whether the defendant
    should be required to obtain aggression counseling or other appropriate
    treatment. Such evaluation shall be completed prior to the sentencing date
    if the court's list of approved evaluators, in accordance with paragraph
    (c) of this subsection, contains evaluators who are able to perform the
    evaluation prior to the sentencing dates. If the evaluation recommends
    counseling or other treatment, the evaluation shall recommend the type of
    counseling or treatment considered appropriate for the defendant, together
    with the estimated costs thereof, and shall recommend any other suitable
    alternative counseling or treatment programs, together with the estimated
    costs thereof. The defendant shall request that a copy of the completed
    evaluation be forwarded to the court. The court shall take the evaluation
    into consideration in determining an appropriate sentence. If a copy of
    the completed evaluation has not been provided to the court, the court may
    proceed to sentence the defendant; however, in such event, it shall be
    presumed that counseling is required unless the defendant makes a showing
    by a preponderance of evidence that counseling is not required. If the
    defendant has not made a good faith effort to provide the completed copy
    of the evaluation to the court, the court may consider the failure of the
    defendant to provide the report as an aggravating circumstance in
    determining an appropriate sentence. If counseling or other treatment is
    ordered, in no event shall the person, agency or organization doing the
    evaluation be the person, agency or organization that provides the
    counseling or other treatment unless this requirement is waived by the
    sentencing court, with the exception of federally recognized Indian tribes
    or federal military installations, where diagnosis and treatment are
    appropriate and available. Nothing herein contained shall preclude the use
    of funds authorized for court-ordered counseling or treatment pursuant to
    this section for indigent defendants as provided by law. In the  event
    that funding is provided for or on behalf of the defendant by a
    governmental entity, the defendant shall be ordered to make restitution to
    such governmental entity in accordance with the restitution procedure for
    crime victims, as specified under chapter 53, title 19, Idaho Code.
    (b)  If the evaluation recommends counseling or other treatment, the court
    shall order the person to complete the counseling or other treatment in
    addition to any other sentence which may be imposed. If the court
    determines that counseling or treatment would be inappropriate or
    undesirable, the court shall enter findings articulating the reasons for
    such determination on the record. The court shall order the defendant to
    complete the preferred counseling or treatment program set forth in the
    evaluation, or a comparable alternative, unless it appears that the
    defendant cannot reasonably obtain adequate financial resources for such
    counseling or treatment. In that event, the court may order the defendant
    to complete a less costly alternative set forth in the evaluation or a
    comparable program. Nothing contained in this subsection shall be
    construed as requiring a court to order that counseling or treatment be
    provided at government expense unless otherwise required by law.
    (c)  Each judicial district shall by rule establish a uniform system for
    the qualification and approval of persons, agencies or organizations to
    perform the evaluations required in this subsection. Only qualified
    evaluators approved by the court shall be authorized to perform such
    evaluations. Funds to establish a system for approval of evaluators shall
    be derived from moneys designated therefor and deposited in the district
    court fund as provided in section 31-3201A(q), Idaho Code.
    (d)  Counseling or treatment ordered pursuant to this section shall be
    conducted according to standards established or approved by the Idaho
    council on domestic violence.