Archives for June 2016

By: Carroll County Times

CARROLL COUNTY, MD – Struggling to breathe, the world around you goes dark. Within seconds, you’re unconscious. Four minutes later, you could be dead. This is what can happen when a person is strangled.

Despite the serious nature and potential lethality of strangulation, in Maryland it is often not charged as a first-degree assault, which carries a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison.

To commit first-degree assault in Maryland, a person must commit or attempt to commit an act with the intention of causing serious physical injury to another or commit assault with a firearm, according to Maryland code. While strangulation would seem to qualify as intent to cause serious physical injury to another, prosecutors say it can be difficult to prove because not all incidents leave obvious signs of injury. That lack of injury evidence can also make it difficult for police officers investigating the incident.

Studies have suggested that nonfatal strangulation is often a predictor for homicide in domestic violence cases. A study in the Journal of Emergency Medicine from 2008 notes that the risk of an attempted homicide increases seven times for women who have been strangled by their partner, and 43 percent of women murdered in domestic assaults had been strangled by a partner in the year prior.

Yet, because victims tend to survive strangulation with minimal visible injuries, it’s often not taken as seriously.

In Carroll County, the State’s Attorney’s Office and Westminster Police Department have partnered to offer training on the signs, investigation and prosecution of strangulation and domestic violence to public safety officers.

Because police officers are often the first ones on the scene, “it’s important they understand the potential lethality of strangulation in order to encourage victims to seek assessment by trained medical personnel,” forensic nurse Rosalyn Berkowitz told us at a recent training session.

We’re glad Carroll is offering this training to better educate law enforcement so they can help get domestic violence victims the help they need. But we’d like to see them take it a step further.

One of the presenters, Baltimore County police Officer Darrin Kelly, has been advocating to get Maryland to specifically include strangulation in the first-degree assault statute, thus far unsuccessfully.

We’d like to see law enforcement in Carroll join with him as advocates in Annapolis to push for that change in next year’s legislative session, and for Maryland legislators to seriously take up the cause of adding it to the first-degree assault statute or creating a separate strangulation statute.

Frankly, it’s absurd that such a lethal action does not have a penalty that fits the serious nature of the crime.

Click to See the Full Article Here: Editorial: Stronger Penalties for Strangulation Needed

By: Heather Mongilio

CARROLL COUNTY, MD –

The Carroll County State’s Attorney’s Office and the Westminster Police Department are leading training on strangulation investigations as the organizations look to bring the county to the forefront of domestic violence enforcement.

The two organizations are hosting three training sessions on the signs, investigation and prosecution of strangulation and domestic violence, with the first having been held June 7. Members of local law enforcement agencies and members of the State’s Attorney’s Office gathered in the Fraternal Order of Police building to hear from Assistant State’s Attorney Brenda Harkavy, forensic nurse Rosalyn Berkowitz and Baltimore County Police Officer Darrin Kelly.

The training focused on what to look for during strangulation investigations, as well as bringing attention to strangulation as a possible first-degree assault.

“Because often [police officers are] the first person on the scene, and it’s important they understand the potential lethality of strangulation in order to encourage victims to seek assessment by trained medical personnel,” Berkowitz said.

Strangulation cases are difficult because bruises and marks don’t usually show up immediately, and strangulation, despite having the potential to be fatal, is not specifically included under first-degree assault in Maryland, the three presenters said. There is also no statute just for strangulation, Harkavy said.

Strangulation can be tried as first-degree assault, but without strangulation language in first-degree assault it makes it harder for prosecutors to get a guilty conviction. Officers and commissioners, who decide the charge, also don’t always understand the serious nature of strangulation, which means it might not initially be charged as first-degree assault.

Kelly has been working to get Maryland to specifically include strangulation in first-degree assault, but so far the state has not changed its laws.

“The reason we’re trying to get it here is it is a lethal assault,” Kelly said.

Under Maryland statute, assault is defined as “the crimes assault, battery, and assault and battery.” To commit first-degree assault, a person must commit or attempt to commit an act with the intention of causing serious physical injury to another or commit assault with a firearm, according to Maryland code.

Without it being defined in the first-degree assault code or given its own statute, prosecutors have to prove that the strangulation does fall under physical serious injury, Harkavy said.

It can be difficult to prove, especially when a jury is involved, because not all cases of strangulation have blatant signs of injuries. This means that prosecutors have to call an expert to testify on the damage caused by strangulation, she said.

The lack of injury evidence on a person can also make it difficult for the officers who are investigating the domestic violence call, said Lt. Nikki Heuer-Sales of the Westminster Police Department. Heuer-Sales approached Harkavy about bringing strangulation training to the county, she said.

“A lot of times when officers respond to domestic violence calls, we’re looking for physical symptoms,” Heuer-Sales said.

Physical signs of injury do not appear in more than half of victims, and death can occur whether or not there is evidence of strangulation, Berkowitz said during her presentation.

In many cases, the victim will be more animated or hysterical, which can make them look as if they are lying. Abusers, on the other hand, will often be calm, which makes them appear more trustworthy, Harkavy said during her presentation.

It is common for victims to make light of strangulation when talking with officers, Berkowitz said.

“Everyone minimizes it. Victims minimize it,” she said during the training.

When a person is being strangled, they often cannot believe it’s happening and describe it as an out-of-body experience. Many of the victims Berkowitz spoke with told her that their thoughts were of their children.

“It’s really a terrifying experience,” she said.

And the force needed to strangle someone is considerably less than many might assume. It can take about 4.4 psi for 10-30 seconds to strangle someone into unconsciousness if they have blocked off the jugular vein, Berkowitz said during her presentation, while it takes 11 psi for 10-20 seconds to block the carotid arteries and cause someone to fall unconscious.

“It really doesn’t take a lot of pressure to kill someone by strangling them,” Berkowitz told officers.

In comparison, an average male adult’s handshake takes 80-100 psi, it takes 20 psi to open a soda can and it takes 6 pounds of pressure to pull a handgun trigger, she said.

“It takes less to strangle someone than it does to fire your gun,” Berkowitz told the officers. “Just some perspective.”

It was the amount of pressure, or lack thereof — as well as the lack of evidence — that surprised Maryland State Police Capt. Holly Barrett.

Barrett, who is the domestic violence coordinator for Maryland State Police, said she came to the training because it is important to stay up-to-date on information, and she walked away learning a lot from the training.

“I didn’t realize you could have strangulation that could cause death in under four minutes without any physical signs,” Barrett said.

The State’s Attorney’s Office and Westminster Police Department will hold the second session of its training for law enforcement Thursday and the third on June 29. The second and third sessions will cover the same information presented in the first one.

Click to See the Full Article Here: Authorities lead strangulation investigation training

By: Associated Press

Phoenix, AZ – The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors has unanimously adopted
a $2.3 billion budget for fiscal year 2017.

The budget adopted Monday is an increase of $116.8 million from the last fiscal
year.

It adds more funding for criminal justice and public safety, including a new
juvenile court, 13 adult probation staff with a possibility of 12 more as
needed.

It also increases prosecution costs, including more than $1 million for child
abuse, sexual assault and strangulation exams.

More than half of the total budget is for public safety and criminal justice.

Click to See the Full Article Here: Maricopa County Board Adopts Budget for Fiscal Year 2017

By KTVA CBS 11 News

ANCHORAGE, AK – On Tuesday, a man who strangled his girlfriend, was sentenced to serve nearly nine years in prison.
Anchorage Superior Court Judge Michael Spaan sentenced Oscar Villa II to eight years and nine months for second- and third-degree assault, third-degree criminal mischief, first-degree failure to stop at the direction of a peace office, driving under the influence and first-degree unlawful contact, according to a statement from the Attorney General’s office.

On Nov. 28, 2013, Villa strangled his girlfriend “until she lost consciousness” during an argument, according to the Attorney General’s office. When she woke up, she fled to her mother’s house, but went back with her mother and called police. Police attempted to pull Villa over in his vehicle, but he refused and tried to flee, the statement said.

“When he reached a dead end, he drove directly at the pursuing officer, striking two police cars, and then fled on foot while drinking from a bottle of cognac,” the Attorney General’s office said. When he was finally caught by a K-9 team, his blood-alcohol content level was .110.

Following his arrest, Villa was ordered to have no contact with his girlfriend, but the Attorney General’s office said he called her more than 200 times between November 2013 and January 2014.

“This sentence should serve as a reminder that our community will not tolerate those who abuse their partners or put police officers in danger,” said a statement from Assistant District Attorney James Klugman, who prosecuted the case. “They will be caught, they will be prosecuted, and they will be held accountable for their crimes.”

He was previously sentenced to 20 years in prison for firing a gun at his sister’s boyfriend in their home in June 2014.

Click to See the Full Article Here: Anchorage Man Sentenced for 2013 Strangulation

Please join the survey by DomesticShelters.org on Did Your Batterer Ever Use Strangulation as an Abuse Tactic?, as well as their other surveys about domestic violence and see the worldwide results.