Choking Someone Will Soon Be A Felony In Pennsylvania
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Victims of domestic abuse are getting another tool to fight back.
A new law was signed this week by Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf to make strangulation a felony.
Chester County State Representative Becky Corbin introduced the bill twice, before it was signed into law this past week.
She says it's designed to close a loophole in state law that allowed some domestic abusers to evade prosecution:
"Current law doesn't provide adequate penalties for this horrific act, and unfortunately, in the case of domestic violence, in strangulation particular, there's not any visible physical injury. I mean even if the victim temporarily loses consciousness, prosecutors have to establish some sort of life threatening injury."
Under the new law, victims will not have to provide physical injury to charge an alleged abuser.
"When police and paramedics arrive, they find the victim conscious," says Corbin, "they find the victim alert, and it's sometimes assumed that the assault may not have happened, when in reality, they could have been choked within seconds of their death."
Pennsylvania becomes the 36th state to make strangulation a felony.
The law will go into effect in two months
