Strangulation Laws

MD. CODE § 3-303(A). RAPE IN THE FIRST DEGREE

(a) Prohibited. A person may not:

(1) Engage in vaginal intercourse with another by force, or the threat of force, without the consent of the other; and

(2) (i) Employ or display a dangerous weapon, or a physical object that the victim reasonably believes is a dangerous weapon;

(ii) Suffocate, strangle, disfigure, or inflict serious physical injury on the victim or another in the course of committing the crime;

(iii) Threaten, or place the victim in fear, that the victim, or an individual known to the victim, imminently will be subject to death, suffocation, strangulation, disfigurement, serious physical injury, or kidnapping;

(iv) Commit the crime while aided and abetted by another; or

(v) Commit the crime in connection with a burglary in the first, second, or third degree.

MD. CODE § 3-305(A). SEXUAL OFFENSE IN THE FIRST DEGREE

(a) Prohibited. A person may not:

(1) Engage in a sexual act with another by force, or the threat of force, without the consent of the other; and

(2) (i) Employ or display a dangerous weapon, or a physical object that the victim reasonably believes is a dangerous weapon;

(ii) Suffocate, strangle, disfigure, or inflict serious physical injury on the victim or another in the course of committing the crime;

(iii) Threaten, or place the victim in fear, that the victim, or an individual known to the victim, imminently will be subject to death, suffocation, strangulation, disfigurement, serious physical injury, or kidnapping;

(iv) Commit the crime while aided and abetted by another; or

(v) Commit the crime in connection with a burglary in the first, second, or third degree.

MD. CODE § 3-307(A)(1). SEXUAL OFFENSE IN THE THIRD DEGREE

(a) Prohibited. A person may not:

(1) (i) Engage in sexual contact with another without the consent of the other; and

(ii) 1. Employ or display a dangerous weapon, or a physical object that the victim reasonably believes is a dangerous weapon;

(2) Suffocate, strangle, disfigure, or inflict serious physical injury on the victim or another in the course of committing the crime;

(3) Threaten, or place the victim in fear, that the victim, or an individual known to the victim, imminently will be subject to death, suffocation, strangulation, disfigurement, serious physical injury, or kidnapping;

CHAPTER 651 CRIMINAL LAW – STRANGULATION – LETHALITY SCREENING PROTOCOL AND TRAINING (2016)

For the purpose of requiring, on or before a certain date, the Police Training Commission to develop a certain lethality screening protocol and training for law enforcement officers to employ when investigating complaints of domestic violence and assault by strangulation; requiring the Commission to make a certain report; and generally relating to assault by strangulation.

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Maryland, the Maryland Police Training Commission, on or before January 1, 2017, shall:

(1) After conducting a review of the experience and best practices of other states, develop a lethality screening protocol and training for law enforcement officers to employ when investigating complaints of domestic violence and assault by strangulation;

(2) Report the result of the review and the protocol and training developed in accordance with this Act to the General Assembly, in accordance with § 2—1246 of the State Government Article.

SECTION 2. And be it further enacted, that this act shall take effect October 1, 2016.

§ 3-202. Assault in the first degree, MD CRIM LAW § 3-202

Strangling defined:

(a) In this section, “strangling” means impeding the normal breathing or blood circulation of another person by applying pressure
to the other person’s throat or neck.

(3) A person may not commit an assault by intentionally strangling another.
Penalty

(c) A person who violates this section is guilty of the felony of assault in the first degree and on conviction is subject to
imprisonment not exceeding 25 years