Legislature(2005 - 2006)CAPITOL 120
03/23/2005 08:00 AM House JUDICIARY
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| Chief Administrative Law Judge | |
| HB187 || HB188 | |
| HB91 | |
| HB219 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| *+ | HB 91 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | HB 219 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | HB 187 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | HB 188 | TELECONFERENCED | |
HB 219 - STRANGULATION CRIMES CHAIR McGUIRE announced that the final order of business would be HOUSE BILL NO. 219, "An Act relating to crimes and dangerous instruments." 8:42:28 AM REPRESENTATIVE MIKE HAWKER, Alaska State Legislature, sponsor, relayed that a constituent of his who is a forensic nurse had described to him situations that prompted him to sponsor HB 219. Currently it is very difficult to establish the "serious injury" criteria in situations involving strangulation, which is a major element in domestic violence crimes, so as to be able to prosecute such situations as a felony. There is not always physical evidence that strangulation has occurred, and HB 219 proposes to assist the legal community in such cases, which currently are being prosecuted as misdemeanors. CHAIR McGUIRE acknowledged the amount of work that has gone into HB 219. 8:46:40 AM REPRESENTATIVE GARA complimented Representative Hawker for his work on the issue, and characterized the bill as well written and narrow. He cautioned, however, that sometimes there is a tendency for [legislators] to go through the criminal code and attempt to increase a sentence for a particular crime even though any current sentence has been well thought out, well debated, and is consistent with sentences for similar crimes; he opined that sentences should only be increased for a very compelling reason. REPRESENTATIVE HAWKER acknowledged all the work done by his constituent, his staff, the Department of Law, and Legislative Legal and Research Services in developing HB 219. 8:50:11 AM TARA HENRY, R.N., S.A.N.E.-A. (Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner), indicated that she is a forensic nurse consultant and, as such, performs examinations on men and women who've been victims of sexual assault, child abuse, and domestic violence, as well as assists the state medical examiner's office with the forensic examinations of homicide victims in such cases. Strangulation is a very serious, sometimes fatal, physical force and can result in death very quickly without leaving any outward sign. Because a victim can be strangled to the point of unconsciousness quickly, oftentimes there is no sign of any visible physical injury, and so it can be difficult to convince a jury that the victim came very close to dying, that he/she did indeed suffer a life-threatening event. MS. HENRY said that historically, such assaults have been charged as misdemeanor fourth degree assaults. She relayed that she has spent the last few years educating doctors, nurses, law enforcement, prosecutors, and advocates to the pathophysiology and signs and symptoms of strangulation, as well as educating prosecutors that there are symptoms present even when there is no visible sign present on the neck of the victim. Since then, particularly recently, many prosecutors have been prosecuting such situations as felonies, though doing so is very difficult because an expert must be called in to explain to the jury why a person can be strangled and yet not show any outward signs of such. She mentioned that she's been involved in cases wherein the victims were strangled to death without there being any external injuries. MS. HENRY added: I recently was involved in a case [in which] the judge dismissed the grand jury indictment because the victim had testified about strangulation but there wasn't anybody else there to explain why it was serious, so the prosecutor had to go back and re-indict that case with me testifying as to seriousness. Basically, if I put my hands around your neck, and I prevent oxygen from getting to your brain, or carbon dioxide from getting out of your brain, I am literally controlling whether you live or die. And so if you pass this bill, it's going to help the prosecutors be able to ... charge [these cases as] ... felonies, prosecute them more easily. This is not a fourth degree misdemeanor assault - it's not a simple slap on the arm - this is a life threatening assault. CHAIR McGUIRE thanked Ms. Henry for her work. 8:53:53 AM REPRESENTATIVE COGHILL asked what the signs of strangulation are. MS. HENRY said that when there are visible injuries, prosecutors have taken those cases forward as felonies, but when there are no visible injuries, prosecutors haven't always realized that there are other signs that they can rely on to show that strangulation has taken place. Such signs include difficulty breathing, hyperventilation, vomiting, loss of bladder control, loss of bowel control, loss of voice, hoarseness, and neck swelling. Also, even though strangulation presents an immediate risk of death, the victim is also at risk of dying days or weeks later due to cellular damage in the brain as a result of oxygen deprivation or due to the throat swelling as a result of trauma to the internal muscles and tissues of the neck. Additionally, pregnant women who are strangled often suffer from miscarriages. When interviewing victims of strangulation, law enforcement and prosecutors must start asking victims whether they have experienced any of the aforementioned symptoms. She mentioned that internal injuries aren't always reflected on the skin surface with signs of bruising; sadly, it is often only during an autopsy that signs of internal injury, such as hemorrhaging in the tissue, become visible. 8:56:28 AM REPRESENTATIVE COGHILL characterized the information Ms. Henry has provided as important. REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG noted that hands can be dangerous instruments, and characterized the bill as speaking to the issue that certain types of assaults are difficult to prove because of a lack of physical evidence. He asked whether there are other types of [assaults] that could cause death but which are as difficult to prove. MS. HENRY said not that she has come across. She offered her understanding that current law says a dangerous instrument is anything that can be used, is threatened to be used, or is attempted to be used to cause serious physical injury. The bill is saying that by using one's hands, forearm, or ligature to control the oxygen going to another's brain, then one is creating a substantial risk of death. REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG noted that the bill is not limited to hands, and surmised that it is instead focusing on a particular type of injury. MS. HENRY said that what the bill is focusing on is the fact that external pressure is being applied to the neck to occlude oxygen exchange in the brain - acts of strangulation and suffocation. REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG asked whether crimes involving poison should be included in the bill, and offered an example of a case he was familiar with. MS. HENRY pointed out that a toxicology sample can show the presence of poisons in the system, but such cannot be done in cases of strangulation. REPRESENTATIVE GARA offered his understanding that the bill addresses cases where the person does not die and so a crime involving strangulation might just be prosecuted as a misdemeanor; he opined that the bill proposes to treat strangulation as felony behavior in a wise way. 9:03:06 AM ANNE CARPENETI, Assistant Attorney General, Legal Services Section-Juneau, Criminal Division, Department of Law (DOL), said simply that the DOL supports HB 219. TAMARA de LUCIA, Associate Victims' Rights Advocate, Office of Victims' Rights (OVR), Alaska State Legislature, said that as a former domestic violence prosecutor and as a current victim advocate, she personally feels very strongly about HB 219. Strangulation, particularly in a domestic violence context, is undercharged and underprosecuted, she assured the committee, because the injuries are not readily discernable. She added that the lack of physical evidence has caused many strangulation cases to be treated as minor incidences, similar to a slap in the face, and to be prosecuted as misdemeanors, particularly in a domestic violence context. However, strangulation is one of the most deadly methods of controlling a victim. MS. de LUCIA relayed that the Journal of Forensic Science published an article in 1985 on strangulation injuries and reported that it takes 11 pounds of pressure on the carotid artery for 10 seconds to cause unconsciousness; she characterized 11 pounds of pressure from an adult hand as hardly any pressure at all, adding that brain death will occur in 4 to 5 minutes if that pressure persists. Strangulation is a pretty swift method of controlling one's victim, she remarked, adding that strangulation injuries are very difficult to see upon initial officer contact because the telltale signs such as difficulty swallowing, symptomatic voice changes, and other signs only show up a day or two after the event. MS. de LUCIA pointed out that there are also mental changes that can manifest as restlessness and combativeness as a result of temporary brain anoxia and severe stress reaction. Thus, often, when an officer gets to the scene, the "hysterical" victim is dismissed as unable to give a coherent statement of what happened; really what the victim is experiencing is a very normal symptom of being strangled. That is why the bill is so important, she remarked, because it doesn't require the prosecutor to show physical injuries in order to charge felony conduct, adding her belief that this behavior should be considered felony conduct. MS. de LUCIA reiterated that strangulation is one of the most lethal forms of domestic violence, and concurred with Ms. Henry that internal injuries may only manifest several days later and may cause death; domestic violence perpetrators use strangulation to silence their victims, and this behavior should be charged not only as a felonious assault but also as attempted murder. Strangulation is a form of power and control and it has devastating psychological effects on victims in addition to a potentially fatal outcome. She relayed that the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Uniform Crime Reporting Data - which was analyzed in 2004 by the Violence Policy Center in Washington, DC - indicates that Alaska is number one in the nation for domestic violence deaths. That's just not a statistic to be proud of, she concluded. She asked the committee to raise the penalty for the crime of strangulation to the level of severity that it deserves and to give the prosecution the tools to prosecute these crimes in the manner in which they deserve. 9:06:19 AM PEGGY BROWN, Executive Director, Alaska Network on Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault (ANDVSA), said that the ANDVSA supports the bill, remarked that it has been a long time coming, and characterized the bill as addressing the very root of domestic violence - taking someone to within an inch of his/her life is all about power and control. Shelter programs across the state deal with this issue every day, both in rural areas and urban areas. In conclusion, she called the act of strangulation abhorrent, and said the ANDVSA appreciates what the bill attempts to do. REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG said he supports the bill but noted that it brings up the issue of whether there are other items that should be added to the bill, for example, certain types of poisons. He asked Ms. Carpeneti to comment. 9:09:06 AM MS. CARPENETI suggested that Ms. Henry is in a better position to address that issue, adding that she is not aware of any other crimes that are as difficult to prove as strangulation. She relayed that she would be willing to research the issue further. REPRESENTATIVE GARA asked why strangulations are not being prosecuted now. MS. CARPENETI explained that there is often a lack of physical evidence, and so the question of whether a serious physical injury has occurred can't be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. In response to a further question, she relayed that prosecutors are now attempting to prosecute strangulations as felonies, but are not that successful and always have to have an expert witness testify as to why there aren't any visible signs of strangulation. She opined that HB 219 will help with such evidentiary matters. 9:11:21 AM CAREN ROBINSON, Lobbyist for the Alaska Women's Lobby, said the Alaska Women's Lobby supports HB 219, appreciates the sponsor bringing the bill forward, and would appreciate the committee moving the bill from committee. CHAIR McGUIRE, after ascertaining that no one else wished to testify, closed public testimony on HB 219. 9:12:00 AM REPRESENTATIVE DAHLSTROM offered compliments to the sponsor and characterized HB 219 as a good bill. REPRESENTATIVE DAHLSTROM moved to report HB 219 out of committee with individual recommendations and the accompanying fiscal notes. There being no objection, HB 219 was reported from the House Judiciary Standing Committee.
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