By: Tom Olsen

By: Jim Bell

Nunavut judge Paul Bychok has accused Crown prosecutors—and the Nunavut justice system—of devaluing the lives of Inuit women who suffer intimate partner violence.

He did it in a blistering written judgment released Wednesday, Nov. 11, saying the Nunavut court endorses too many lenient plea-bargained sentences that fail to recognize the severity of intimate partner violence against vulnerable Inuit women in Nunavut.

Cases of alcohol-fueled violence against Inuit women and girls dominate court dockets in the territory and many victims are caught in a spiralling cycle of violence, he said in the sentencing of a Nunavut man for assault.

Because of recent rulings by the Nunavut Court of Appeal, he said Nunavut judges can’t reject such joint sentences, except in rare circumstances—a constraint he doesn’t like.

“A judge’s inability to impose a just and principled sentence constitutes a breakdown in the justice system,” Bychok said.

He said this reinforces the perception—described by Pauktuutit Inuit Women of Canada and in the final report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls—“that there is little justice to be found for Inuit women in the criminal justice system.”

Bychok made these remarks in response to a joint plea-bargain defence and Crown lawyers submitted in the case of James Logan Aklok, a 39-year-old Nunavut man who twice assaulted his intimate partner in August.

Judge can’t reject plea deal

In that situation, Bychok said case law forces him to agree to a joint sentencing submission that brings the administration of justice into disrepute—and there’s nothing he can do about it.

But he told lawyers he would express his concerns in a written decision, which he released Nov. 10.

Aklok, who’s originally from Kugluktuk, first assaulted the woman in Iqaluit on the evening of Aug. 2, after she told him she was going out to give some money to her mother.

Bychok’s judgment said Aklok, who was intoxicated, punched, slapped and head-butted his partner. At one point, he put her on the floor and banged her head, pulled her hair, kicked her in the back, and banged her head some more.

After that, he was arrested, charged with common assault and released on bail with an order not to contact the victim.

Nineteen days later, on Aug. 21, he attacked the woman again. This time, he choked her until she fled the house and hid behind a nearby truck, where she phoned the police. When police arrived, they noticed a red mark near her left eye and swelling around her mouth and lip.

Police then charged Aklok with committing an assault causing bodily harm by choking, strangling or suffocating his intimate partner.

Choking charge downgraded

When Aklok appeared for a sentencing hearing on Sept. 25, Crown prosecutor Gary Wool proposed a global sentence of 45 days in jail and nine months of probation in exchange for Aklok’s guilty pleas.

In that agreement, the Crown replaced the choking charge from the Aug. 21 incident with the charge of common assault, to which Aklok pleaded guilty. The defence lawyer, Sally Paddock, agreed, making it a joint submission.

But Bychok said that sentence was “unduly lenient” and that the two lawyers provided little justification for it.

“The joint submission did nothing to help dispel the perception that our justice system devalues the lives of Inuit victims of crime. I am certain this omission would alarm and dismay all informed and reasonable Nunavummiut,” he said.

To support that conclusion, Bychok quoted from a Pauktuutit report that said women in Nunavut are victimized by violent crime at a rate 13 times higher than women in Canada as a whole.

The same report also said Nunavut women suffer from the highest rate of police-reported family violence in Canada.

“The lived reality is a nightmare”

“These are cold clinical facts; the lived reality is a nightmare. Sentencing ought to reflect that reality,” Bychok said.

And he also quoted from the final report of the national MMIWG inquiry.

“There is a lack of transparency regarding plea negotiations and the exercise of prosecutorial discretion generally, which further contributes to Indigenous peoples’ distrust of the justice system and a sense that Indigenous victims of crime are devalued,” the MMIWG report said in the section Bychok quoted.

Bychok also said a recent change to the Criminal Code requires judges to emphasize denunciation and deterrence in sentencing offenders who commit crimes of violence against Indigenous women.

The Crown, however, paid little attention to that, Bychok said. For example, the judge said the Crown minimized the true nature of Aklok’s violence by deleting references to “choking, strangling, or suffocating” from the charging document, or information sheet.

And the Crown lawyer did not list the choking incident as an aggravating factor in sentencing, Bychok said.

He also listed other aggravating factors the Crown did not mention, such as a previous conviction for abusing an intimate partner, and that the current victim was a “vulnerable female Inuk.”

“Institutional indifference”

All this helped create a “perception of institutional indifference” to the experience of the victim, Bychok said.

“This prosecution failed to demonstrate an understanding of the social harm inflicted on communities and victims by intimate partner violence, the real harm experienced by Mr. Aklok’s victim, or the role victims have in addressing it,” Bychok said.

But because of the way that the Nunavut Court of Appeal has interpreted a Supreme Court of Canada decision called R. v. Anthony-Cook, Bychok said his hands are tied.

In 2019 and 2020, the Nunavut Court of Appeal used that precedent to throw out sentences that Bychok had imposed after rejecting joint submissions he said were too lenient.

“Inuit women, and all Nunavummiut, deserve a justice system that meaningfully addresses gendered violence. It is troubling that our courts have not been given the tools, including fuller judicial sentencing discretion, to do so,” Bychok said.

And for that reason, he said it’s time for Parliament to reopen debate on that issue.

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By: Melissa Hoppmeyer

Recently news broke that former Home Improvement star Zachery Ty Bryan was arrested for allegedly “choking” his girlfriend. As prosecutors and as advocates for tougher penalties and responses to strangulation cases, this wrong use of terminology drives us nuts. But not only because it’s a misrepresentation of the bio-mechanics; this misrepresentation is dangerous, and minimizes the risks associated with non-fatal strangulation and the dangers of those who commit this crime.

It’s strangulation, not choking.

Choking is an accidental obstruction of the windpipe, resulting in a blockage that prevents normal breathing — or, more simply, when an object is lodged in your windpipe and keeps you from breathing. Strangulation, on the other hand, is the external pressure to the neck that blocks air flow, blood flow, or both, and can result in the alteration of consciousness and even death. When someone places their hands or another object around your neck, they are not choking you, they are strangling you — and if they do it for long enough, you could die. In fact, a person can be rendered unconscious within seconds of consistent pressure on the neck, and could be dead in less than four minutes.

Stranglers pose a risk not only to their victims, but to the community at large. Studies on mass shooters show a correlation between domestic violence strangulation and mass shooting. The DC Sniper and the Orlando Pulse Nightclub shooter were both previously accused of strangling their intimate partner. The list goes on; Cedric Ford, who in 2016 fatally shot and killed three co-workers and injured 14 others, and Esteban Santiago, who shot and killed five people and injured six others at the Ft. Lauderdale airport, had both previously been charged with strangling their exes.

In fact, Everytown for Gun Safety, a nonprofit organization against gun violence, reports that 54% of mass shootings have their origins in domestic violence. The Training Institute on Strangulation Prevention, a leading organization on strangulation, reports that in a majority of mass shootings, the perpetrator kills an intimate partner or family member. Additionally, a 10-year study out of Riverdale California’s District Attorney’s office found that 50% of the cases where an officer was killed in the line of duty, the perpetrator had a prior incident of intimate partner strangulation. Individuals who strangle are different, and strangulation cases needed to be treated differently.

In the domestic violence world, strangulation is not only seen as extremely dangerous because a victim can lose consciousness within seconds; it is a giant red flag for further abusive behavior and homicide. A victim of non-fatal strangulation is 750% more likely to end up the victim of a domestic violence homicide after one incident of strangulation. Survivors of strangulation are at risk for injuries such as stroke, brain damage, and multi-system organ failure, not only right after the incident of strangulation, but for weeks, months, and even years later. Survivors of non-fatal strangulation also report experiencing long-term memory or neurological injuries as well as increased rates of anxiety and fear that can be associated with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Even knowing all these risks, strangulation is commonly overlooked by law enforcement and paramedics as only about 50% of strangulation victims have observable injuries, and perhaps most concerning of all, only 3% of strangulation victims seek medical treatment after a strangulation incident. This statistic is largely based upon a lack of education in our communities about the dangers and risks associated with strangulation. Law enforcement, paramedics, and even prosecutors play a role in this lack of education because for years we focused on cases with visible injuries, ignoring the cases that should have been red flags for homicide.

Over the last 10 years, that has changed, and with training and education comes the ability to look for ways to corroborate strangulation without external visible injuries. We have learned about the bio-mechanics of strangulation and how to better partner with our hospitals and medical experts, not only ensuring victims of strangulation receive needed medical treatment, but to aide in criminal prosecutions. We have also learned that the trauma of strangulation requires a different type of criminal investigation, one that begins the moment the 911 call is made.

So much has changed in our understanding of the inherent risks of strangulation, and we continue to advocate for stronger penalties and better medical resources. This year Maryland became the 47th state to make strangulation a felony, but we need to do more as a country. We need to speak up and speak out, especially when the media minimizes the crime. We need to ensure that everyone understands the dangers of strangulation, starting with our young people, as current statistics show that 1 in 10 high schoolers has already experienced dating violence. We need to educate our legislators, all the way from the local elected prosecutors and sheriffs to our national legislators.

Strangulation in the domestic violence setting represents a symbol of power and control to the abuser, a way of saying “I can kill you anytime I want.” The abuser is instilling fear, ensuring the cycle of violence associated with domestic violence continues. Seeing media reports calling the incident a choking, rather than a strangulation, perpetuates the myth that non-fatal strangulation doesn’t exist and allows abusers to minimize the lethality of their abuse. It’s important to know the risks, know the signs and symptoms, and most importantly, it’s important for us to use the word. So next time, get it right: it’s strangulation, not choking.

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Domestic Violence is a ‘pandemic within a pandemic.’ Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Aisha Braveboy and other experts say COVID-19 has made a serious problem even worse in Maryland and all over the country.

Speaking at the Not One domestic violence awareness event on Wednesday evening, Braveboy shared alarming statistics. “Not everyone was safer at home during safer at home order.  We saw a 10% increase in domestic violence.  An increase in strangulation. An extra five cases per week.”

Braveboy said strangulation is the most lethal form of domestic violence which is why she campaigned for legislation to make it a first-degree felony assault in Maryland.
Braveboy along with domestic violence experts and survivors spoke at the socially-distant event which was streamed live on Zoom and Facebook.

Melissa Hoppmeyer, chief of the Special Victims and Family Violence Unit, said there has also been an increase in the use of weapons. In response, the county developed a high-risk protocol to get assistance of victims promptly. “We review every single case. If there’s a strangulation or a weapon, our victim advocates reach out within 24 hours.”

Family Justice Center Offers Help

Assistant State’s Attorney Kathryn Marsh said the pandemic cut many people off from traditional avenues of assistance. “As the community has suffered from COVID-19, victims have suffered from domestic violence.  With churches and temples virtual, people could not confide in spiritual leaders. With schools closed, teachers couldn’t offer help.  People heard courts were closed. They didn’t understand that our Family Justice Center was open and that our police and EMTs could still respond.”

The Prince George’s County Family Justice Center offers a one-stop shop for victims of domestic violence. Twenty-one government and non-profits organizations have partnered with the center to help victims navigate the courts, receive counseling, and find housing and other assistance.

Break The Silence

All speakers agreed that talking about the issue is the first step. Several survivors of domestic violence spoke at the event. All said they had been ashamed to ask for help at first.

Marsh said it’s important for people to realize they are not alone. “Every year 12 million Americans are affected. Every minute 12 people are victims. One in four women. One in seven men. One in 10 in high school have experienced dating violence.” Marsh said it’s wrong to think of domestic violence as a private family matter. “It costs about 8 million paid leave days a year. It costs employers $720 million a year. It runs into the billions when you take into account health care costs.”

Speakers stressed the need for all citizens to educate themselves about the issue and to advocate on behalf of victims.

Braveboy said, ““We should not leave one person behind in the fight against domestic violence.”

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Charges have been filed against a Racine man in a Green Bay homicide case that dates back more than three decades.

Sixty-five-year-old Lou Archie Griffin has been charged with first-degree intentional homicide in the strangulation death of Lisa Holstead. The body of the 22-year-old woman was found in a swamp in a Green Bay nature area in August of 1986. Investigators say back then Griffin lived within a few miles of where the victim’s body was found.

Police haven’t yet said what led them to Griffin. A criminal complaint says investigators trailed Griffin in Racine last month and obtained DNA from a couple of beer cans and a cigarette. Authorities say it came back as a match to DNA found on Holstead.

“You never lose hope on any case just because of the new technology that just comes around as we progress through time,” said Commander Paul Ebel, who is the Green Bay Police Department’s current longest tenured officer, having joined the department two years after Holstead’s death.

Bond has been set at $1 million cash in Brown County Circuit Court, WLUK-TV reported. Online court documents do not list an attorney for Griffin.

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