The Effectiveness of a Coordinated Response Toward Nonfatal Strangulation in Facilitating Evidence-Based Prosecution

Abstract

Many states’ laws now classify nonfatal strangulation as part of domestic violence as a felony offense, but prosecution of offenders remains challenging due to the nature of this type of violent offense. This study evaluates a coordinated effort designed to improve one county’s response to nonfatal strangulation. The impact of law enforcement training and specialized forensic medical examinations on facilitating evidence-based prosecution of nonfatal strangulation offenders is examined. Preliminary support is found for the effectiveness of the coordinated effort, highlighting the importance of comprehensive law enforcement training and detailed medical evidence in facilitating evidence-based prosecution.

Forensic documentation of non‐fatal strangulation

“…Additionally, with NFS cases often characterized by little corroborating evidence aside from the victims’ account of the incident [20], we cannot overstate the value of the type of evidence made available when detailed forensic evidence is collected. Research has shown that evidence collection can be improved by training law enforcement to identify and document NFS [16]; however, quality forensic medical documentation is an essential piece as well in holding offenders accountable [11,23–26] and to mitigate serious physical and mental health consequences of NFS [2].…”

“…A county‐wide training was conducted by the National Family Justice Center Alliance's Training Institute on Strangulation Prevention for those involved in the coordinated effort (i.e., higher ranked law enforcement supervisors, Special Victim Unit agents, prosecutors, health department personnel, victim advocates, and researchers). NFS training included information on lethality, how to recognize the signs and symptoms of NFS, how to identify and understand the anatomy and medical aspects of NFS, how to investigate and present cases for legal proceedings involving NFS, and how to use experts in courts [26]. Training and protocols were also developed to document evidence during a forensic medical examination.…”

“…For this study, we utilize data collected as part of a multi-agency effort between researchers, law enforcement, medical and legal personnel, and domestic violence shelter advocates to develop a county-wide response to incidents of domestic violence NFS in one county in a southern state by facilitating evidence-based prosecution [15,16,26]. As part of this effort, NFS victims identified by law enforcement were given the opportunity to have a nocost forensic medical examination completed by specially trained Forensic Nurse Examiners (FNEs).…”

“…Along with the realization of the seriousness of NFS came statutory changes making NFS a felonious assault in most states [1], though holding offenders accountable under these statutes is challenging with lack of corroborating evidence that is typical of NFS cases [20,22]. With medical evaluation and documentation viewed as “powerful ways to substantiate the survivor's account of the incident” [11] (p. 45), it is essential for NFS victims to have a complete medical examination [10] including a forensic assessment to not only mitigate any serious health consequences of NFS [2] but also to collect valuable evidence to aid prosecution efforts [11,23–26]. However, IPV detection and measurement techniques during a forensic examination have shown to be lacking by health care providers [23,27] and particularly so for NFS [8].…”

“…Other research has shown that a forensic medical examination, including detailed history of the strangulation attack, can be successful in aiding prosecutorial filing and charging decisions [26]. Specifically, Reckdenwald et al [26] found that offering no‐cost forensic medical examinations to NFS victims increased the filing rate of NFS cases by almost 51%.…”