Upgraded Choking Statute Proving Effective

April 9, 2011
By Scott DeSmit

A month after a new law went into effect, a city of Batavia man became the first person in Genesee County charged with third-degree strangulation.

Since then five others have been charged in Genesee County under laws making it a more serious crime to choke someone.

All of the cases were domestic violence-related and if they happened before Nov. 11, 2010, none of the men would have been charged with anything more serious than harassment, a mere violation similar to a traffic ticket.

“Until we were able to get these statutes, law enforcement’s hands were tied,” said Assistant District Attorney Will Zickl, who prosecutes many domestic violence cases.

The law has proved effective.

The state Division of Criminal Justice Services this week released a report for the first 15 weeks since the law took effect.

In what one DCJS official called “an unprecedented” number of arrests, 2,003 people were charged between Nov. 11, 2010, and Feb. 22, 2011.

Nearly 95 percent of those charged were men.

During that time period four men in Genesee and one each in Orleans and Wyoming counties were charged. Since then two more in Genesee have been charged.

“Unfortunately, it’s a very common behavior among abusers,” Zickl said. “That was the impetus of creating the statute.”

Before the law passed, choking someone, even to the point of unconsciousness, may have resulted only in a charge of harassment.

That was revealed in scores of domestic violence cases handled by police agencies every year. Absent any physical injuries police often had no legal reason to charge someone with a more serious crime.

The new laws make it a misdemeanor to apply pressure to someone’s throat or block the nose and mouth. Second-degree strangulation involves choking someone into unconsciousness or stupor and causing injury. That is a felony, as is first-degree strangulation, which requires serious injury.

Zickl said police officers have long known that choking was a common behavior.

“It was perceived by law enforcement as being a common behavior but there wasn’t a good fit for it, as far as the statutes we had,” he said. “They would end up charging them with harassment.”

The DCJS report revealed that of the 2,003 people charged, 82.9 percent were charged with a misdemeanor. Less than 1 percent were charged with first-degree strangulation.

All but four of the state’s counties reported at least one arrest. Cattaraugus, Hamilton, Lewis and Tioga reported none.

The majority of arrests — 60 percent — happened in New York City.