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Abstract: 

The video began with a man and woman in a casino parking lot. He was close to her, arms raised, finger pointed threateningly at her chest. The woman turned and walked away. The man followed and grabbed her neck from behind with both his hands. For 10 seconds she fought unsuccessfully to pry his hands from her neck. Her legs quickly gave out and the man, with his hands still around her neck, lowered her to the ground. As she lay there, seemingly unconscious, her foot began to spasm. Then, the man released her neck and she slowly rose to her feet. Casino security, and later the police, quickly responded to the scene. The woman was terrified, but she had no visible injuries to her neck to reveal what had just occurred. The video was taken in 2003 in the city of Federal Way, Washington, five years before Washington State adopted one of the country’s first strangulation laws.

Keywords: strangulation significant lethality factor; strangulation difficult to prosecute

Affiliations:  1:  Senior Deputing Prosecuting Attorney King County.