State funds could help prosecutors identify the most serious domestic violence cases

The Capitol in Salt Lake City is pictured on Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (Photo by Spenser Heaps for Utah News Dispatch)

During what lawmakers say is a tight budget year, advocates are asking for a “modest” appropriation that they hope will help Utah’s domestic violence service providers, while giving prosecutors more tools to pursue charges against abusers. 

The Utah Domestic Violence Coalition is prioritizing two funding requests this year. One would direct about $1.4 million to various domestic violence shelters and service providers around the state. 

The other would funnel about $260,000 in annual funds to help police departments around the state commission forensic medical exams in domestic violence cases that involve strangulation. 

“Prosecutors tell us there’s no single tool right now that’s helping them prosecute domestic violence crimes better,” said Erin Jemison with the coalition, during a Criminal Justice Appropriations Subcommittee meeting on Tuesday. 

Data shows that domestic violence incidents that involve strangulation are one of the biggest indicators of a lethal relationship. A 2009 study published in the National Library of Medicine found that non-fatal strangulation was present in 43% of intimate partner homicides, and 45% of attempted intimate partner homicides. Another study determined that strangulation by an intimate partner increased the chances of homicide by 600%. 

But law enforcement aren’t always equipped to handle these cases — instead, they need to contract with highly specialized forensic experts who conduct a strangulation exam, while also providing important health care services to the victim. 

Those experts can act as expert witnesses during a trial, or provide prosecutors with a report that can bolster a victim’s testimony. Domestic violence cases often come down to a judge evaluating a survivor’s testimony against the perpetrator’s testimony. A forensic report gives the survivor an added layer of credibility. 

Since the legislature began funding these exams, “we’ve had three times as many perpetrators charged and about four times as many successful prosecutions,” said Rep. Cheryl Acton, R-West Jordan. 

Acton is sponsoring the Domestic Violence Coalition’s Request for Appropriation, or RFA, and said the program, if funded, is a tangible way to hold perpetrators accountable and curb domestic violence homicides. 

“When it became apparent that we could facilitate a medical exam for victims of strangulation, that made a huge change in our ability to prosecute these cases,” said Letitia Toombs, a prosecutor in Weber County. “It lifts the burden off of the victims, but it also provides a service to victims.” 

That service is much needed health care. Not only is strangulation an indication of a lethal relationship, but it can have lasting health impacts, cutting off blood or oxygen to the brain which can lead to a brain injury or stroke. Damage to veins in a person’s neck can cause serious impairment if not treated immediately. 

Lawmakers say money is tight this year. So rather than asking for about $400,000, which would completely fund the program, the Domestic Violence Coalition is asking for $260,000. The rest of the money will come from fundraising. 

“This is a weird year,” said Rep. Ryan Wilcox, R-Ogden. “We don’t have money this year. So we’re trying to figure out how to do things without money.”