TITLE 18

CRIMES AND PUNISHMENTS

CHAPTER 9

ASSAULT AND BATTERY

18-923.  Attempted strangulation. (1) Any person who willfully and unlawfully chokes or attempts to strangle a household member, or a person with whom he or she has or had a dating relationship, is guilty of a felony punishable by incarceration for up to fifteen (15) years in the state prison.

(2)  No injuries are required to prove attempted strangulation.

(3)  The prosecution is not required to show that the defendant intended to kill or injure the victim. The only intent required is the intent to choke or attempt to strangle.

(4)  "Household member" assumes the same definition as set forth in section 18-918(1)(a), Idaho Code.

(5)  "Dating relationship" assumes the same definition as set forth in section 39-6303(2), Idaho Code.

(6)  Any person who pleads guilty to or is found guilty of a violation of this section shall undergo an evaluation, counseling and other treatment as provided in section 18-918(7), Idaho Code.

(7)  Notwithstanding any other provisions of this section, any person who previously has pled guilty to or been found guilty of a violation of the provisions of this section, a felony violation for domestic violence as provided in section 18-918, Idaho Code, or any substantially conforming foreign criminal felony violation, notwithstanding the form of the judgment or withheld judgment, and who, within fifteen (15) years, pleads guilty to or is found guilty of any further violation of this section shall be guilty of a felony and shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for a term not to exceed twenty (20) years or by a fine not to exceed ten thousand dollars ($10,000), or by both such fine and imprisonment.

(8)  The maximum penalties provided in this section shall be doubled where the act for which the person is convicted or pleads guilty took place in the presence of a child. For purposes of this section, "in the presence of a child" means in the physical presence of a child or knowing that a child is present and may see or hear an act of domestic assault or battery. For purposes of this section, "child" means a person under sixteen (16) years of age.

(9)  For the purposes of this section, a substantially conforming foreign criminal violation exists when a person has pled guilty to or been found guilty of a violation of any federal law or law of another state, or any valid county, city, or town ordinance of another state that substantially conforms with the provisions of this section. The determination of whether a foreign criminal violation is substantially conforming is a question of law to be determined by the court.

History:

[18-923, added 2005, ch. 303, sec. 1, p. 950; am. 2018, ch. 123, sec. 2, p. 262; am. 2024, ch. 261, sec. 2, p. 911.]