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House amends and approves third-degree felony for intentional strangulation
Summary
House Bill 65 was amended to add the word 'intentionally' to the strangulation/smothering statute; sponsors said the change conforms the offense to intent standards and cited a modest fiscal note; the House passed the amended bill and sent it to the Senate.
Representative Felix introduced House Bill 65 to clarify that strangulation or smothering qualifies as a third-degree felony. Representative Harper moved a conforming amendment inserting the word 'intentionally' to align the provision with intent standards elsewhere in the code; members characterized the amendment as friendly and it was adopted.
Sponsor noted the seriousness of the offense and distributed a letter from a medical examiner about physiological harms caused by strangulation. The sponsor also outlined a fiscal note—$46,500 in FY2009 and $93,000 ongoing beginning FY2010—to cover anticipated costs associated with violators. The bill passed the House as amended and will be forwarded to the Senate.
The transcript records supportive committee endorsements from a range of criminal-justice and victim-service entities but does not include detailed sentencing-count projections or implementation timelines.
