PL 121.11: Criminal Obstruction of Breathing or Blood Circulation

PL 121.11 is New York’s choking statute, and it is charged far more often than most people realize — roughly 220 cases a year in Nassau and Suffolk County District Court, the overwhelming majority of them domestic. No injury is required. No loss of consciousness is required. Nothing has to actually be obstructed. If you have been charged, call Hochhauser Criminal & DWI Defense at 516-939-1529.

PL 121.11 penalties and the felony line

That middle row is why the medical evidence in these cases matters so much. The difference between the misdemeanor and a Class D felony is whether the complainant suffered stupor, lost consciousness, or sustained physical injury — and that is a factual question decided by records, photographs and testimony, not by the accusation.

What PL 121.11 requires

The statute is short. A person is guilty when, with intent to impede the normal breathing or circulation of the blood of another person, he or she applies pressure on the throat or neck, or blocks the nose or mouth.

On the face of it, the offense is complete on intent plus the act. The People do not have to prove breathing was actually impeded, that the complainant was hurt, or that anything visible resulted. That is what makes the charge so easy to file — and it is also what makes the intent element the entire defense.

Intent is the case

PL 121.11 is a specific intent crime. The question is not whether your hand touched someone’s neck. It is whether you did so intending to stop them breathing.

Those are not the same thing, and the difference describes an enormous number of real incidents: pressure to the neck incidental to a struggle, a push-off during a grapple, an arm across the chest or throat while separating from someone, a grab of a shirt collar that rode up, a headlock in a mutual fight. Prosecutors charge those as choking. The statute does not necessarily reach them.

The medical record usually tells the story

Injury is not an element, which is exactly why its absence is so useful. A genuine sustained obstruction of the airway or the blood vessels of the neck tends to leave signs — petechiae, marks, hoarseness, difficulty swallowing. Where there are none, no medical treatment was sought, and the complaint came hours or days later, that gap is powerful on credibility even though the People are not required to prove injury.

Subpoena the EMS run sheet, the emergency department records and the scene photographs early. In many of these cases the documents say considerably less than the accusatory instrument does.

Defenses to a PL 121.11 charge

• No intent to impede breathing. The central defense, and the one that fits the ordinary struggle.
• Justification under Penal Law Article 35. Defending yourself is not a crime, and once the defense is raised the People must disprove it beyond a reasonable doubt.
• Absence of corroborating findings — no injuries, no treatment, no photographs, delayed reporting.
• Motive to fabricate — custody proceedings, divorce, immigration matters and civil claims all appear in these files.
• Recantation and inconsistency, handled carefully and through counsel rather than through contact with the complainant.
• The statutory affirmative defense under PL 121.14 for conduct performed for a valid medical or dental purpose, in the rare case where it applies.
• Contesting injury, which keeps the case a misdemeanor rather than letting it become a strangulation felony.

A family offense, in two courts

Criminal obstruction of breathing is a family offense under New York law, so Family Court and the criminal courts share jurisdiction over it. A complainant can proceed in criminal court, in Family Court, or in both. Statements made in one proceeding can be used in the other, which is why both have to be handled together. See domestic violence charges and criminal contempt.

Where these cases are heard on Long Island

We defend these cases in Nassau County and Suffolk County, on both tracks.

PL 121.11 frequently asked questions

Nobody was hurt. Why am I charged?

Because injury is not an element. The statute reaches the act plus the intent, which is unusual and is why the charge appears in cases with no medical evidence at all.

What makes it a felony?

Stupor, loss of consciousness, or physical injury elevates it to strangulation in the second degree, a Class D felony. Serious physical injury makes it strangulation in the first degree.

The complainant wants to drop it.

That decision belongs to the District Attorney. It changes the People’s position considerably but does not end the case, and you should not be the one having that conversation with the complainant.

Can this be reduced?

In defensible first-offense cases, commonly to harassment in the second degree, a violation rather than a crime.

Speak with a Long Island defense lawyer

Richard Hochhauser has defended obstruction of breathing cases in Nassau and Suffolk County for years. These charges arrive sounding far worse than the underlying facts frequently are, and the gap between the two is where the defense lives.

This page provides general information about PL 121.11 in New York and is not legal advice. Every case turns on its own facts. Contacting our firm does not create an attorney-client relationship.