10,057 in State Charged Under New Strangulation Law

ALBANY — More than 10,000 people were charged under New York’s strangulation statute during its first year on the books, state officials said.

Of the 10,057 total, 8,160 were misdemeanor charges of criminal obstruction of breathing or blood circulation. The rest were felony charges — 1,785 for second-degree strangulation and 112 for first-degree strangulation. The law took effect Nov. 11, 2010, and the statistics are through Nov. 22, 2011.

Dutchess County ranked 19th in the state, in terms of the number of people charged with strangulation.

Of the 99 people charged under the law, 93 were for misdemeanors.

Dutchess trailed Ulster County, which was 16th in the state with 119 people charged. Of those, 101 were for misdemeanors, according to state records.

Brooklyn had the highest number of cases — 2,063 — followed by the Bronx, Queens and Manhattan.

Erie had 441 cases; Monroe had 370; and Westchester had 235.

Charges for first-degree strangulation were filed in 13 counties, including one each in Cortland, Erie, Rockland and Westchester. Neither Dutchess nor Ulster had first-degree felony cases.

Livingston, Schuyler and Wayne were among the handful of counties that had misdemeanor cases only.

Advocates for the law have said abusers frequently went unpunished for strangulation before the new crimes were established because there were no signs of physical injury. Suspects often were charged with second-degree harassment, a violation with a maximum penalty of 15 days in jail.

“I am pleased to see that almost immediately, law-enforcement departments from around the state were starting to use this charge,” Office of Victim Services Director Tina M. Stanford said. But the Office of Victim Services is still not seeing all the victims that could be taking advantage of the law, she said.

An amendment to the law that took effect Dec. 22 will make more strangulation victims eligible for compensation and assistance. The statute now includes misdemeanor strangulation charges in the list of crimes for which victims can seek compensation from the state. Convictions are not necessary in order to seek aid.

Previously, victims had to have sustained a physical injury from a strangulation to be eligible for compensation. Minors, people with disabilities, the elderly and victims of certain crimes also are eligible for awards from the agency.

“A lot of times people don’t even realize that there are resources available to them,” Stanford said.

The Office of Victim Services provides compensation in three categories: personal injury, loss of essential personal property and death. Victims can get assistance with things like non-reimbursed medical and dental bills, moving costs and lost wages.

“This update to the law will greatly benefit survivors of domestic violence, since strangulation is one of the most common forms of violence that abusers perpetrate on their victims,” Stanford said. “This change ensures that all victims of these terrible acts, no matter the severity of the charges, can seek assistance from OVS.”

The compensation is funded by fines, mandatory surcharges and crime-victim assistance fees paid by certain offenders in state or federal court. Someone convicted of a felony in New York has to pay a mandatory surcharge of $300 and a $35 crime-victim assistance fee.

The Office of Victim Services provided nearly $27 million to crime victims and their families in 2010. The fines and surcharges also fund the Office of Victim Services and grants to 189 victims’ assistance programs statewide.

Strangulation is prevalent in domestic-violence cases, said Amy Barasch, executive director of the state Office for the Prevention of Domestic Violence, “and while it does not always manifest the same obvious physical signs as other assaults, it is extremely dangerous.”

“The ability for victims of this crime to access resources from OVS will provide an essential resource in their path to safety,” she said in a statement.