New Strangulation Law Helping Domestic Abuse Prosecutions

April 13, 2011
By Amanda Kenney

"This is not the holding your breath game we did as kids, how long can you hold your breath? said Executive Director of the SOS Shelter, Inc, Rebecca Allerton, This is someone depriving you of the very right to breathe."

More than one in four perpetrators of domestic violence try to strangle their victims and until five months ago, abusers could only be charged with second degree harassment.

"A lot of times it results in unconsciousness and there's a higher risk of death associated with those cases and up until now, without physical injury visible on the victim, they've been very hard to prosecute," said Executive Director of the Crime Victims Assistance Center, Raini Baudenistel.

So the crime of strangulation was added to the New York State laws last November.

Over 2,000 strangulation arrests and arraignments were made during the first three months.

"It's a relatively simple law to interpret, and that's basically all you need to have. One person cutting off the air supply to another," said Broome County Undersheriff Alex Minor.

Strangling some one results in a misdemeanor but if you add loss of consciousness or impairment, it's considered a felony. The crime carries even stronger penalties if the strangulation causes serious physical injury to the victim.

Of the 2,003 arrests Kings County had the highest with 467. Tioga County had no arrests and Broome County has 18 offenders.

Undersheriff Minor says the low number could be a result in officers still charging the suspects with assaults. But over time, that will change.

"This is our first in service training that's been going on so the officers have been made aware of it so you may see more charges coming down the line, said Minor.

Advocates of domestic violence are happy to see strangulation taken seriously, but they say that it doesn't mean the crime will stop.

"You always hope it deters it, but if not, at least there's accountability tied to it now," said Baudenistel.