Brooks Law Firm
If someone you love has been accused of strangulation, the first thing worth understanding is why the charge escalated so fast. Most domestic assault allegations in Tennessee are Class A misdemeanors. A strangulation allegation is a Class C felony — and it can be charged on an account alone, with no visible injury, no medical treatment, and no claim that anyone intended serious harm. That is not a prosecutor overreaching. It is how the statute is written, and knowing that is what lets you stop guessing and start working the actual case.
Patrick Brooks has handled thousands of criminal cases in the Memphis and West Tennessee courts, including a special assignment to every case in the Shelby County Veterans Treatment Court. Call (901) 324-5000, or call or text (901) 412-2973 any time. Se habla español.
What Makes a Domestic Assault a Felony
This is the question almost every family asks first, so here is the structure. Simple domestic assault under T.C.A. § 39-13-111 is a Class A misdemeanor. It becomes aggravated assault under T.C.A. § 39-13-102 — a felony — when the State alleges one of a short list of specific things:
- Strangulation or attempted strangulation — Class C felony, 3 to 15 years.
- Serious bodily injury — Class C felony where the conduct was intentional or knowing; Class D where it was reckless.
- Use or display of a deadly weapon — Class C felony intentional or knowing; Class D reckless.
- Strangulation of a victim who was pregnant at the time — Class B felony, 8 to 30 years.
Everything else about the incident — how loud it was, who called, whether police believed one account over another — does not change the class. One of those listed factors does. Which means the single most valuable thing that happens early in a strangulation case is testing whether that factor is actually there.
The Definition Is Broader Than People Expect
Tennessee defines strangulation as intentionally or knowingly impeding normal breathing or circulation of the blood by applying pressure to the throat or neck, or by blocking the nose and mouth of another person — regardless of whether the conduct results in any visible injury, and regardless of whether the person intended to kill or protractedly injure the victim.
Read that last clause again, because it explains almost every surprise in these cases. No marks, no bruising, no hospital visit, and no intent to cause lasting harm are required. A hand near the neck during a struggle, described afterward in those terms, can support the charge. This is why clients so often say the felony makes no sense to them — they are measuring it against injury, and the statute does not.
It cuts both ways, though. Because the element is impeding breathing or circulation, the defense question becomes concrete and answerable: what actually happened with the hands, for how long, and does the account describe impeded breathing or something else — a push to the chest, a grab of the shoulder or collar, contact during a mutual struggle.
Three Consequences You Should Know Up Front
A mandatory minimum of 30 days
Effective July 1, 2024, a conviction involving strangulation or attempted strangulation carries a mandatory minimum of 30 days of incarceration, along with participation in evidence-based domestic violence programming. This is one of the clearest reasons not to treat a strangulation count as something to resolve quickly — on a conviction, that floor is not discretionary.
Service at 85 percent
Under Tennessee’s Truth in Sentencing Act, aggravated assault involving strangulation or attempted strangulation sits in the category requiring service of at least 85 percent of the sentence before release eligibility. For any offer on the table, the percentage matters as much as the number of years — see our summary of recent changes in Tennessee criminal law.
Loss of consciousness changes the exposure
Where a strangulation allegation includes the victim losing consciousness, the case may be prosecuted as attempted first degree or attempted second degree murder rather than as aggravated assault. Whether loss of consciousness is genuinely supported — as opposed to described in hindsight as feeling faint or dizzy — is therefore one of the highest-stakes factual questions in the file.
How the State Tries to Prove It
Because visible injury is not required, prosecutors build these cases on other material, and each piece is examinable:
- The recorded account. The 911 call and the first body-camera statement, which frequently differ from the written summary and from later statements.
- Medical findings. Petechiae, voice changes, throat pain, or difficulty swallowing. These findings have innocent causes as well, and their absence is itself meaningful.
- Photographs. Often taken hours later, in poor light, and equally often showing nothing.
- Strangulation-specific questionnaires. Officers in domestic cases frequently use a checklist. How a question was put — and whether the answer was volunteered or prompted — can matter a great deal.
And the point our page on dropping charges makes at length applies here too: the alleged victim cannot end the case. That decision belongs to the District Attorney. Someone hoping to help by recanting should understand that before they act, because it can create problems rather than solve them.
Your Record, Honestly
Two things are worth stating precisely, because the internet gets them wrong in both directions.
A domestic assault conviction cannot be expunged in Tennessee, and the charge is excluded from pretrial diversion under T.C.A. § 40-15-105. That much is firm.
Judicial diversion under T.C.A. § 40-35-313 is a different statute with a different exclusion list — sexual offenses, DUI, vehicular assault before the minimum is served, and Class A and B felonies. A Class C felony strangulation is therefore not excluded by offense class, while the Class B version involving a pregnant victim is. Being eligible by class is not the same as being granted diversion: it still requires a qualified defendant with no prior felony, no prior Class A misdemeanor for which confinement was served, and no diversion used before, and the mandatory minimum and the seriousness of the allegation both bear on what a court and a prosecutor will entertain. It is a real question in a real case, not a promise — and it is worth asking properly rather than assuming the door is shut.
The Registry, New Since January 2026
Under Savanna’s Law, at Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 40-39-401 and 40-39-402, Tennessee now maintains a public, searchable registry of repeat domestic violence offenders. Felonies under title 39, chapter 13 committed against a domestic abuse victim are qualifying offenses. It takes a conviction for a qualifying offense committed on or after January 1, 2026 plus at least one qualifying prior, registration runs 5 to 20 years depending on the number of priors, and the court will not order registration unless the alleged victim agrees or is unavailable for that determination. On a second case, the stakes now include a public listing — which is another reason the first case deserves a full defense.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I be charged with strangulation if there are no marks?
Yes. Tennessee’s definition applies regardless of whether the conduct caused any visible injury, and regardless of whether there was any intent to kill or protractedly injure. The absence of injury is still useful evidence, but it does not by itself defeat the charge.
Is strangulation always a felony in Tennessee?
Yes. Aggravated assault by strangulation or attempted strangulation is a Class C felony carrying 3 to 15 years, and a Class B felony carrying 8 to 30 years where the victim was pregnant at the time of the offense.
Is there mandatory jail time for a strangulation conviction?
On a conviction, yes. Since July 1, 2024, a conviction involving strangulation or attempted strangulation carries a mandatory minimum of 30 days of incarceration plus evidence-based domestic violence programming. Avoiding that minimum means avoiding the conviction, which is why these cases are worth fighting properly.
What turns a domestic assault into a felony?
One of a short list of factors: strangulation or attempted strangulation, serious bodily injury, or the use or display of a deadly weapon. Simple domestic assault is a Class A misdemeanor; any of those factors moves it to aggravated assault, a Class C or Class D felony, or Class B where strangulation involved a pregnant victim.
Can the alleged victim get a strangulation charge dismissed?
No. Only the District Attorney or the court can end the case. Prosecutors regularly proceed without a cooperating complainant using 911 recordings, body-camera footage, photographs, and medical records. Recanting can also create separate legal problems for the person doing it, so it should never be attempted without advice.
Schedule a Confidential Consultation
These cases move quickly at the start — bond conditions, no-contact orders, and GPS monitoring are often set before anyone has reviewed a single recording. If this is your situation, call before the first setting. Brooks Law Firm — (901) 324-5000, or call or text (901) 412-2973. General information only, not legal advice; outcomes depend on the specific facts of your case.