Assault by Strangulation Under NCGS: Penalties, Defenses, Expungement

Assault by strangulation in NC is a Class H felony under N.C.G.S. § 14-32.4(b), with a presumptive sentence of 5 to 20 months depending on your criminal history.¹ The legislature wrote the statute because restricting someone’s breathing or blood flow carries an extreme risk of death even when the visible injuries look minor. A conviction brings a permanent firearms ban and shows up on every background check that follows.

What the State Has to Prove

The pattern jury instructions reduce the offense to two elements, each proven beyond a reasonable doubt: that you intentionally strangled another person, and that the strangulation caused some physical injury.² Both must be present. If prosecutors can show someone’s neck was squeezed but cannot point to any resulting injury, the felony charge under this statute fails.

“Intentionally” does real work in that sentence. Accidental neck contact during a struggle does not satisfy the element. The instructions add “without justification or excuse” whenever self-defense or another legal justification is in play, which means the act has to be both deliberate and unjustified.² Prosecutors usually build the case from the alleged victim’s testimony, visible marks, and medical records.

How Broad the Definition Actually Is

The statute does not define “strangulation.” Courts rely on the pattern jury instruction, which describes it as a form of asphyxia caused by closure of blood vessels or air passages in the neck through external pressure, whether from hands, a ligature, or hanging. What matters is constriction or compression that interrupts breathing, swallowing, or blood flow.

This reaches further than most people assume. In State v. Lanford, the Court of Appeals held that the defendant strangled the victim by grabbing him under the chin, pulling his head back, covering his nose and mouth, and hyperextending his neck. The court said it was “immaterial” that force was applied to the top of the neck and head rather than directly to the windpipe, because the result was the same: the victim’s airway was restricted.³ Blocking someone’s nose and mouth to prevent breathing can qualify as well.

What Counts as Physical Injury

The injury threshold is deliberately low. The statute requires only “physical injury,” not the far more demanding “serious bodily injury” standard that triggers the Class F felony under § 14-32.4(a). Serious bodily injury means something creating a substantial risk of death, causing permanent disfigurement, or requiring prolonged hospitalization. Physical injury requires none of that.¹

In State v. Little, the Court of Appeals held that cuts and bruises on the victim’s neck were enough. Courts have read “physical injury” consistently with the definition used in the assault-on-an-officer statute, which covers cuts, scrapes, bruises, and similar injuries that fall short of serious injury. Short-lived redness, a sore throat, difficulty swallowing, or a raspy voice can be enough to send the case forward.

The legislature set the bar there on purpose. Strangulation often leaves little external evidence despite the danger it poses. A person can lose consciousness in seconds and suffer brain damage in minutes from oxygen deprivation, with none of the dramatic wounds that accompany other assaults.

How Much Time You’re Looking At

North Carolina uses a structured sentencing grid that combines the offense class with your prior record level. Prior convictions earn points, and the points sort you into one of six levels, from Level I (0–1 points) up to Level VI (18 or more).⁴ An extra point is added if the new offense was committed while you were on probation, parole, or post-release supervision.

For a Class H felony, the presumptive sentencing ranges in months are:⁵

Level I: 5–6 months
Level II: 6–8 months
Level III: 8–10 months
Level IV: 9–11 months
Level V: 12–15 months
Level VI: 16–20 months

Whether that sentence is served in prison or in the community also depends on prior record. A first-time offender at Level I can receive community punishment (probation and conditions, no jail), intermediate punishment (house arrest, split sentence, intensive supervision), or active prison time. At Levels II through V, only intermediate or active punishment is available. At Level VI, the judge has to impose active prison time.⁶ Judges can depart upward into an aggravated range or downward into a mitigated range when specific factors support it, but most sentences land in the presumptive range above.

When the Charge Gets Worse

The statute opens with a critical qualifier: it applies “unless the conduct is covered under some other provision of law providing greater punishment.”¹ If the strangulation inflicts serious bodily injury, prosecutors can charge the Class F felony under § 14-32.4(a) instead. If an object like a cord or belt was used, assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury becomes a possibility. And if the person died, homicide charges replace assault charges entirely.

The habitual felon statute changes the picture even more. Under N.C.G.S. § 14-7.1, anyone with three sequential felony convictions can be declared a habitual felon, as long as each new offense was committed after the conviction for the one before it.⁷ When the enhancement applies, the sentencing class for the new offense jumps four levels. A Class H felony becomes a Class D, where the presumptive range at Level I alone is 51 to 64 months. The same conduct that might have earned probation can turn into years in prison.

Defenses That Actually Work

Self-defense is the most common defense in strangulation cases. North Carolina law permits force when you reasonably believe it is necessary to protect yourself from imminent harm, and the pattern instructions require the judge to charge the jury on self-defense whenever the evidence supports it.² Once self-defense is raised, the state has to disprove it beyond a reasonable doubt.

Lack of physical injury is the next line of attack. Because the felony requires proof that strangulation caused some injury, a defense built around the absence of bruising, redness, soreness, or medical findings can knock the charge down. The incident may still support a misdemeanor assault, but not the Class H felony.

Defendants also challenge whether the contact qualifies as strangulation at all. A grab at the collar or a shove near the upper chest can involve neck-area contact without any constriction of airways or blood vessels. The prosecution has to show an actual interruption of breathing, swallowing, or circulation. Without that, the strangulation element itself falls apart.

What a Conviction Does to the Rest of Your Life

The sentence is often the smallest piece of the fallout.

Firearms

North Carolina law makes it a Class G felony for anyone with a felony conviction to purchase, own, or possess any firearm.⁸ Federal law separately prohibits anyone convicted of a crime punishable by more than one year in prison from possessing firearms or ammunition, and federal charges can be stacked on top of state charges.⁹ The ban is permanent under both unless rights are specifically restored.

Voting

A felony conviction suspends your right to vote for the full length of your sentence, probation, parole, and post-release supervision included. Once supervision ends, voting rights are restored automatically. You do not need a court order or a pardon, but you do need to re-register, even if you were registered before.¹⁰ Outstanding fines or restitution alone do not block restoration.

Jobs, Licenses, and Housing

A Class H felony surfaces on background checks and can disqualify you from healthcare, education, law enforcement, and any field requiring a professional license. Licensing boards in North Carolina and elsewhere routinely treat violent felony convictions as grounds for denial or revocation. There is no blanket federal ban on renting to someone with a felony record, but public housing authorities have broad discretion to deny applicants with criminal histories, and private landlords screen for felonies routinely.

Protective Orders Running Alongside the Case

Strangulation charges often come out of domestic relationships, and the alleged victim can seek a protective order under Chapter 50B. Domestic violence is defined to include intentionally causing bodily injury or placing a household member in fear of serious bodily harm.¹¹ Strangulation easily qualifies.

A 50B order can require you to stay away from the victim, move out of a shared residence, surrender firearms, attend an abuser treatment program, and pay temporary child or spousal support. Violating one is a separate crime. These orders can issue on an emergency basis without you present, then be extended after a hearing for up to a year with renewal possible.

Expunging a Strangulation Conviction

A Class H felony counts as a “nonviolent felony” under the expunction statute, N.C.G.S. § 15A-145.5, because that statute excludes only Class A through G felonies from eligibility. If the strangulation conviction is your only felony, you can petition 10 years after the conviction date or 10 years after completing your sentence (including probation), whichever is later.¹² If you are petitioning to expunge two or three nonviolent felonies together, the wait stretches to 20 years from the most recent conviction.

Expunction is not automatic. You have to show good moral character, have no pending charges or outstanding warrants, and have picked up no additional felonies during the waiting period. You also cannot have any non-traffic misdemeanor convictions in the five years before filing. Even when every requirement is met, the court has discretion to deny the petition. A granted expunction removes the conviction from public databases, which can reopen doors to employment and housing that the record had closed.

1
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina General Statutes 14-32.4 – Assault Inflicting Serious Bodily Injury; Strangulation; Penalties
2
UNC School of Government. N.C.P.I. 208.61 Assault Inflicting Physical Injury by Strangulation
3
FindLaw. State v. Lanford – NC Court of Appeals 2013
4
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina General Statutes 15A-1340.14 – Prior Record Level for Felony Sentencing
5
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina General Statutes 15A-1340.17 – Punishment Limits for Each Class of Offense and Prior Record Level
6
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina General Statutes Chapter 15A Article 81B – Felony Sentencing
7
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina General Statutes 14-7.1 – Habitual Felon
8
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina General Statutes 14-415.1 – Possession of Firearms by Felon Prohibited
9
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts
10
North Carolina State Board of Elections. Registering as a Person in the Criminal Justice System
11
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina General Statutes Chapter 50B – Domestic Violence
12
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina General Statutes 15A-145.5 – Expunction of Certain Misdemeanors and Felonies