Missouri Laws 455.543 – Homicides or suicides, determination of domestic violence, factors to be ..
1. In any incident investigated by a law enforcement agency involving a homicide or suicide, the law enforcement agency shall make a determination as to whether the homicide or suicide is related to domestic violence.
2. In making such determination, the local law enforcement agency may consider a number of factors including, but not limited to, the following:
Terms Used In Missouri Laws 455.543
- Domestic violence: abuse or stalking committed by a family or household member, as such terms are defined in this section. See Missouri Laws 455.010
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- following: when used by way of reference to any section of the statutes, mean the section next preceding or next following that in which the reference is made, unless some other section is expressly designated in the reference. See Missouri Laws 1.020
- household member: spouses, former spouses, any person related by blood or marriage, persons who are presently residing together or have resided together in the past, any person who is or has been in a continuing social relationship of a romantic or intimate nature with the victim, and anyone who has a child in common regardless of whether they have been married or have resided together at any time. See Missouri Laws 455.010
- Order of protection: either an ex parte order of protection or a full order of protection. See Missouri Laws 455.010
- State: when applied to any of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories, and the words "United States" includes such district and territories. See Missouri Laws 1.020
(1) If the relationship between the perpetrator and the victim is or was that of a family or household member;
(2) Whether the victim or perpetrator had previously filed for an order of protection;
(3) Whether any of the subjects involved in the incident had previously been investigated for incidents of domestic violence; and
(4) Any other evidence regarding the homicide or suicide that assists the agency in making its determination.
3. After making a determination as to whether the homicide or suicide is related to domestic violence, the law enforcement agency shall forward the information required to the Missouri state highway patrol on a form or format approved by the patrol. The required information shall include the gender and age of the victim, the type of incident investigated, the disposition of the incident and the relationship of the victim to the perpetrator. The state highway patrol shall develop a form for this purpose which shall be distributed by the department of public safety to all law enforcement agencies by October 1, 2000.