The Domestic Violence Condition of Probation

North Carolina has a regular condition of probation requiring abuser treatment for defendants found responsible for acts of domestic violence. Today’s post discusses the condition, and what happens when a defendant violates it. Under G.S. 15A-1343(b)(12), if (i) the court finds a defendant responsible for acts of domestic violence, and (ii) there is an abuser treatment program, approved by the Domestic Violence Commission, reasonably available, a condition requiring abuser treatment applies unless the court finds that it would not be in the best interests of justice. What are “acts of domestic violence”? That is obviously an important threshold question, but there is no specific definition of domestic violence for the purposes of this statute. The law was probably intended to apply to the same crimes that are identified as domestic violence for other statutory purposes. For example, G.S. 15A-1382.1 requires the judge to flag as domestic violence any case that involves assault, communicating a threat, or any of the acts defined in G.S. 50B-1(a) (causing or attempting to cause bodily injury, stalking, or any rape or sex crime in G.S. 14-27.21 through 14-27.33) when the defendant and the victim had a personal relationship as defined in G.S. 50B-1(b). For convictions of any of those crimes, the court must check the box on the first page of any judgment form identifying the case as one involving domestic violence. And it’s fair to say that any time that box is checked on a probationary judgment, the court should go on to consider whether [...]