COLUMBUS – Under existing Ohio law, you can be strangled during a domestic dispute and, as long as you don’t die, your assailant will be charged with only a misdemeanor.
A Hilliard state lawmaker is seeking to change that and Rep. Stephanie Kunze’s measure, which would increase penalties for strangulation in domestic violence situations, took a big step forward Tuesday when it was approved by the House of Representatives.
The bill, which now heads to the Senate, expands the offense of domestic violence to include strangulation and makes the first violation a third degree felony requiring a mandatory prison term.
Kunze, a Republican, says the legislation is in response to evidence that and incident of strangulation during the commission of an act of domestic violence is linked to an increased risk of homicide in future cases.
“By changing strangulation from a misdemeanor to a felony, we are creating a cooling off period between a first incident and the possibility of a second,” she said.
During committee testimony on the bill, two women testified about their sister, who was strangled by her husband. The man served 11 days in jail on a misdemeanor and, nine months later, the woman was fatally stabbed.
Kunze says she worked with domestic violence advocates, prosecutors and representatives from the martial arts community to carefully define what constitutes strangulation: Knowingly impeding another person’s normal breathing or circulation by applying pressure to that person’s throat or neck.
Kunze says 38 other states have passed similar legislation.