Understanding HB 1211: A New Legal Landscape
Seven more years for domestic assault and battery by strangulation. I’m Tulsa attorney James Wirth and that is the topic today. We’re talking about a new bill that goes into effect, changing the law and making the punishment for assault and battery by strangulation more severe.
So the new bill or the bill is Senate Bill 1211. So that’s SB 1211. And it amends the statutes related to assault and battery, which includes the crime of assault and battery by strangulation. That’s title 21, section 644.
Detailing the Changes in the Law
If you go down to subsection J, that’s where the statute talks about strangulation. So the law provides domestic abuse as a willful attempt or offering to use force or violence and the use of force or violence against a person that you have a relationship with, either a household member or significant other, those types of things become domestic violence, which has separate punishment for it.
And then if additionally, as part of that domestic violence, there’s strangulation, which is defined as any form of asphyxia, including but not limited to asphyxia characterized by closure of the blood vessels or air passages of the neck as a result of external pressure on the neck or the closure of the nostrils or mouth as a result of external pressure on the head.
The Broader Definition of Strangulation
So it’s important to note here that strangulation doesn’t just mean strangulation as far as cutting off circulation in the neck. It could also mean cutting off breathing by covering the nose and mouth, even though that’s not a standard common sense definition of strangulation that is included in the statute.
So if there’s domestic assault and battery and they’re alleging strangulation, then it falls under this subsection that has changed as far as the punishment.
Implications of the New Punishment
Previously, the law provided if you’re found guilty of domestic assault and battery by strangulation, that you could be sentenced from one to three years in the penitentiary in Oklahoma. And now that has changed, and it’s between one and 10 years and up to a $20,000 fine.
So that punishment is more severe now based on this new law going into effect today, November 1st of 2024. If you’ve got questions about that on the side of a victim or on the side of a defendant where we’re talking about a criminal defense attorney is needed, that is a situation where you want to talk to somebody privately and confidentially.
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