North Carolina state senator pushes for change to strangulation law

CHARLOTTE — There’s a new push to toughen North Carolina’s strangulation laws after a court case that Channel 9 told you about earlier this week.

It’s a law that Mecklenburg County’s top prosecutor has begged for, and it would define strangulation as what you think it is. It comes after a man was caught on camera with his hands around a woman’s neck, but he was found not guilty of strangulation due to a technicality in the current law.

“This affects everyone on every street in every culture,” North Carolina state Sen. Woodson Bradley told Channel 9 Crime Reporter Hunter Sáenz.

Bradley is talking about strangulation, and it’s a crime that’s often hard to convict someone of.

“Someone should not have to leave a mark, a bruise, a lesion on your throat, to be charged with strangulation,” Bradley said.

We showed you the video earlier this week af ter Demont Forte assaulted a woman on his front porch in 2023. Prosecutor Leslie Stephens described what happened during a recent trial.

“You can see her feet kicking, flailing because she’s struggling to breathe,” Stephens said in court.

We showed Bradley the video on Friday.

“Oh my God, he’s strangling her. His hands are on her throat,” Bradley said while watching the video.

Last month, a jury found Forte not guilty of strangulation because the current law forces prosecutors to prove that a victim had physical injuries due to being strangled.

The victim did have physical injuries, but she was kicked and punched multiple times, too. It was enough for some jurors to wonder which injuries came from what.

Sáenz asked if it’s fair to say that abusers are getting away with strangulation in the state.

“Yes, they are,” Bradley said. “This is the whole purpose for us writing this bill is because so many have gotten away with this.”

It’s a crime that Bradley is passionate about, as a domestic violence survivor herself.

“I was chased down, literally hunted down, found and brutally beaten and assaulted,” Bradley said.

That’s why she wants her colleagues in Raleigh to act.

“This is about safety,” Bradley said.

Forte was convicted of assault on a female and sentenced to probation.

The proposed law would also toughen penalties for strangulation. Bradley says she’s baffled because nobody has cosponsored the bill.

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