Legislation Would Elevate Penalties for Strangling

By Doug Denison, Staff Writer
Dover Post
Posted Mar 18, 2010 @ 09:13 AM

Dover, Del. — A Senate committee released a bill March 17 that would make strangulation a felony, despite objections raised by senators who argued the standard of proof for the new charge would be relatively low.

Senate Majority Leader Sen. Patricia Blevins, D-Elsmere, the bill’s sponsor, told the Senate Judiciary Committee that the legislation is necessary to expand protection for victims of domestic violence.

State Police Detective Stephen W. Fausey testified that it can be difficult to charge alleged domestic violence offenders with strangling their victims, since the act generally leaves few visible marks on the body.

Strangulation, Security and Suffrage

by Adam Lynch
March 17, 2010

Both chambers of the state Legislature spent the past week considering bills from the opposite chamber. The House amended Senate Bill 2923—a bill that expands domestic assault to include strangulation and requires a "cooling off" period between parties—to create the offense of attempted murder.

Mississippi law currently does not include the specific offense of attempted murder, which law enforcement says makes it more difficult to prevent assault and murder. SB 2923 recognizes as attempted murder any attempt to kill another human being, or attempting to cause or purposely or knowingly cause bodily injury to another human being with a deadly weapon. The sentence could range from 20 years to life in prison. The bill also makes anyone convicted of attempted murder of an on-duty law-enforcement officer or fireman eligible for a life sentence without parole. The bill now goes back to the Senate for concurrence or conferencing.

N.Y. Bill Would Make Strangulation, Suffocation Violent Crimes

By Cara Matthews
Albany Bureau, March 16, 2010, 10:30 pm

ALBANY -- Applying 11 pounds of pressure around someone's neck for 10 seconds can render a person unconscious, but in many cases in New York, choking or strangulating someone is not considered a crime, experts in law enforcement and domestic violence said Tuesday.

A bill supported by women's groups, the state District Attorneys Association and others would make intentional choking and suffocation into unconsciousness a violent felony. Abusers who choked or suffocated victims without causing unconsciousness or physical injury would face a lower-level felony charge.

"Very simply, somewhat remarkably and perhaps disgracefully, in New York right now, strangulation to the point of rendering someone unconscious is not treated as an assault. This bill would correct that fundamental error," Sen. Eric Schneiderman, D-Manhattan, said Tuesday.

Local Authorities Push to Change on Law on Domestic Strangulation
Scott McKane, Reporter and Jared Preusz, Web Content Producer FOX 13 News
11:30 PM MST, January 20, 2010

SALT LAKE CITY - Police, prosecutors and social workers are started discussions Wednesday in Salt Lake City to see if they can begin the process of changing the law on domestic strangulation. Experts said domestic strangulation often goes unnoticed in the overall grand scheme of a domestic violence charge. Experts said strangulation often winds up on the table as a felony or part of a misdemeanor.

"You can die in five minutes or less and not leave a single external mark. In many ways we were dealing with it as if it was a misdemeanor," said Gael Strack, a former prosecutor present at the discussions. "If someone got slapped in the face, there was no visible injury. But then when we learned how serious it was we were dealing with a near fatal strangulation or an attempted homicide."

Strack is a former prosecutor from San Diego and now travels across the country educating and trying to change laws on domestic strangulation. She said some states have reinforced and changed the laws that define strangulation.

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