Mecklenburg County District Attorney Spencer B. Merriweather is urging state lawmakers to tighten North Carolina’s assault-by-strangulation law after two recent Charlotte juries declined to convict men on that felony charge, despite what prosecutors say was clear evidence of choking and loss of consciousness. Merriweather and his Special Victims team argue that the statute’s requirement to prove a resulting physical injury has turned into a legal escape hatch, pushing serious strangulation cases down to misdemeanor convictions or probation. The back-to-back verdicts have put fresh pressure on the General Assembly to close what prosecutors openly call a dangerous loophole.
Video and a split sentence in Charlotte
At the trial of Demont Forte, security-camera footage showed him placing his hands around a woman’s neck and holding her down on a porch floor for roughly 12 seconds. Even with that video, jurors convicted him only of assault on a female instead of felony assault by strangulation. As reported by WBTV, some jurors later said they struggled to determine which visible injuries in the footage were the result of strangulation versus other blows. Forte received a split sentence of jail time followed by probation, a result prosecutors say highlights just how constrained they are under the current statute.
Another jury declines strangulation verdict
In a separate Mecklenburg County case, prosecutors say Leland Forrest squeezed a partner’s neck until she lost consciousness and then stepped on her neck. Yet again, a jury declined to convict on the felony strangulation charge, instead finding Forrest guilty of assault and sending him to the county jail on that lesser offense. According to Queen City News, the state presented testimony and photos of injuries, but jurors said they were not convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that the strangulation itself caused those specific injuries. Prosecutors say that pattern, whether the evidence comes in through video or witness testimony, has repeated often enough in Charlotte courtrooms to point to a statutory problem, not just a couple of tough verdicts.
‘It should be enough’
Merriweather told reporters it “should be enough that someone takes their hand, clasps it around someone’s neck, and tries to demonstrate that they have power and control over whether they breathe again,” arguing that the current legal elements force juries into a medically precise finding prosecutors often cannot prove in court. Leslie Stephens, who leads the DA’s Special Victims team, told WSOC that even when prosecutors do win felony strangulation convictions, the sentence frequently ends up being probation. Merriweather says lawmakers could address both problems by clarifying the definition of the crime and by strengthening the penalties that follow.
Why prosecutors say the statute falls short
Under North Carolina law, assault by strangulation currently requires the state to prove that a defendant “inflicted physical injury by strangulation.” The Mecklenburg DA’s office says that injury threshold is a major hurdle, because signs of strangulation are often subtle, delayed, or simply invisible to jurors in a courtroom. The office laid out that position in a Mecklenburg County DA's Office release, noting that assault by strangulation is classified as a Class H felony with a maximum sentence of 39 months. North Carolina appellate courts have repeatedly described the statute’s two elements and the difficulty of proving the injury requirement; see decisions collected by Justia interpreting N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-32.4 for additional background.
What lawmakers are doing
Last year, a House bill that initially included language related to strangulation was stripped of those provisions before final passage. This month, Sen. Woodson Bradley filed a Senate measure that aims to enhance penalties for domestic-violence strangulation. The North Carolina General Assembly lists the senator’s introduced bills and their current status. Merriweather says he is hoping lawmakers in the short session will put strangulation back on the agenda and give prosecutors clearer tools to pursue what his office views as high-risk, often lethal behavior.
Resources for survivors
Advocates say a clearer statute could give juries better guidance and survivors stronger legal protection, but any fix will have to run the usual gauntlet in Raleigh. If you or someone you know is in immediate danger or needs help, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1‑800‑799‑SAFE (7233) or visit the National Domestic Violence Hotline website to chat with an advocate and find local resources.
