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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