New Nevada Law Makes Strangulation a Felony
Back in May, Governor Jim Gibbons signed into law Assembly Bill 164, which significantly increases punishment for domestic violence battery in Las Vegas that involves strangulation. Prior to this law, a first offense for battery DV with strangulation was just a misdemeanor with a maximum six months in jail, but it’s now a felony, carrying up to ten years in state prison and a $15,000 fine.
Since AB 164 took effect on July 1 of this year, Las Vegas Metro has arrested nearly a person a day for battery domestic violence in Las Vegas with strangulation. According to some reports, it’s ten times more probable that a person will kill his partner if he’s already attempted to strangle the partner in the past.
Las Vegas typically has 20,000 DV cases a year, and a third of all homicides stem from domestic violence. Las Vegas Metro reports that more than sixty percent of attempted murders were accomplished by strangulation. Furthermore, fifteen percent of all DV homicides within Metro’s jurisdiction were done by strangulation between partners.
At this time, only ten or so other states have laws related specifically to strangulation.
