By: CBS4
VIDEO
DILLON, CO – A California man arrested in a domestic violence case is one of the first defendants in the state to face a felony charge for alleged strangulation.
This summer a new Colorado law went into effect that makes a non-fatal strangulation a felony instead of a lesser charge.
Police said David Kirsch, 47, of Oredaca, Calif., committed the crime on Saturday at an apartment in Dillon. They said he attacked the victim there and she escaped.
The victim told police Kirsch struck her in the mouth and then started choking her.
The suspect was advised of the charges he faces in Summit County Court on Monday.
“Before the new legislation this case would most likely been prosecuted as a misdemeanor,” District Attorney Bruce Brown said in a prepared statement. “However with the new law, bringing Colorado in step with many other progressive states who are toughening up laws that protect against domestic violence, we now have more teeth to prosecute.
“Non-fatal strangulation, as opposed to other severe forms of physical violence such as striking with fists or another object, frequently leaves little in the way of observable injury, yet can result in serious physical and mental health consequences.”
Kirsch [sic] next court date is scheduled for Sept. 7.
Original article: One Of State’s First Felony Charges For Strangulation Filed In Court