Citation

Reckdenwald A, King DJ, Pritchard A. Violence Vict. 2020; 35(2): 160-175.

Affiliation

College and University Professional Association for Human Resources, Knoxville, TN.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, Springer Publishing)

DOI

10.1891/VV-D-18-00105

PMID

32273375

Abstract

Recent research has pointed to the need for systematic law enforcement training on domestic violence when nonfatal strangulation is involved to improve evidence-based prosecution of these potentially deadly assaults; however, virtually no research has examined the legal response to nonfatal strangulation since many states have made it a separate criminal felony. The current exploratory study examines filing, charging, and adjudication decisions of nonfatal strangulation cases over a 3-year period based on evidence documentation in law enforcement reports to explore how these cases are handled by the criminal justice system in Brevard County, Florida.

RESULTS support previous research showing the importance of training police officers and other personnel as insufficient evidence may be one possible factor limiting the prosecutors' ability to successfully prosecute domestic violence strangulation offenders to the highest extent available under the law. Implications spread across multiple disciplines.

© Copyright 2020 Springer Publishing Company, LLC.

Language: en

Keywords

choking; criminal justice decisions; criminal justice system; intimate partner violence; strangle