The criminal theme for this month is strangulation. I thought I would start with some interesting facts:
- Without an expert to explain the seriousness of asphyxia, jurors are likely to think it didn’t happen because the injuries were too minor (San Diego Jury)
- With an expert to explain the seriousness of asphyxia, jurors wanted to know why the case was only prosecuted as a misdemeanor (Orange County Jury)
- Abusers do not always understand the medical severity of the act of strangulation
- Lethality is based on duration, quantity and surface area of applied force
- Victims who are intoxicated are easier to kill than those who are sober.
- At least 25% of all DV cases include strangulation.
- 34% of abused pregnant women reported being strangled
- Children are present as often as 50% of the time, and are the reason that the perpetrator stops up to 2/3 of the time.
(Training Institute on Strangulation Prevention, 2014)
