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Abstract: 

This article provides a national overview of strangulation case law and the trends we are seeing as courts rule in these cases. The first stand-alone strangulation statute passed only 20 years ago in the state of Missouri. While a particular statute or type of law is in its infancy stage, there will always be gaps and uncertainty. New laws and unsettled case law can deter some law enforcement officers and prosecutors from going forward on solid cases. Law enforcement officers may not know what evidence is necessary to prove cases in court, resulting in inadequate investigations. Some prosecutors may even intentionally choose to wait until the case law is settled in their state before charging strangulation as a felony. When that happens, there is a missed opportunity to intervene early before a homicide occurs. Stranglers are serial offenders so failure to intervene with one incident or victim is a missed opportunity to prevent the next assault from happening. This article shares the emerging and collective case law on strangulation and/or suffocation from state to state in order to help professionals understand how issues are being resolved in other jurisdictions and improve their response to these violent and deadly crimes. While the cases cited in this article pertain to how the criminal system is dealing with non-fatal strangulation, it also provides guidance to civil attorneys. We are starting to see cases involving non-fatal strangulation in civil cases, juvenile dependency and delinquency as well as malpractices cases. But for purposes of this article, we focus on criminal case law. Prosecutors in particular can use the case law from other states to persuasively articulate and highlight the seriousness and lethality of strangulation cases, the need for felony prosecution, higher bail, important bail conditions, and other court considerations. Overall, the body of case law that is developing in strangulation and suffocation cases is very favorable for felony prosecution, use of expert testimony, and establishes a clear understanding that the act of strangulation poses a risk of great bodily injury and/or substantial risk of death.

Keywords: Strangulation Cases and Statutes

Affiliations:  1: Alliance for HOPE International; 2: Alliance for HOPE International.