In one of the first examples of an arrest under a newly revised state law making strangulation a felony, Athens-Clarke County police arrested a man for allegedly strangling his wife.
Courtney Jerrod Wiley was charged Wednesday with aggravated assault stemming from an incident days earlier in which he was accused of strangling his wife, the Athens Banner-Herald reported. Prior to the revision, strangulation would have been considered misdemeanor simple battery.
The revised law went into effect the first of this month.
Wiley is also being charged with two counts of battery and simple battery. He allegedly attacked his wife after she spilled nail polish on the carpet, police told the Banner-Herald. He strangled her again and punched her the next day over an argument about car keys. Wiley’s wife locked him outside and called the police after he went out for a cigarette.
Project Safe Executive Director Joan Prittie told the Banner-Herald the the revision was important because domestic violence that results in strangulation often leads to a victim being killed in the future.
“Strangulation just demonstrates a willingness by the offender to use lethal violence,” Prittie said.
For more on the story see the Banner-Herald.
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