Charged with Assault by Impeding Breath or Circulation? This Is a Felony — and It Needs a Real Defense.
Most people think of choking allegations as just another assault charge. They’re not. Under Texas law, putting pressure on someone’s throat, blocking their airway, or restricting blood flow to the brain — even briefly, even without leaving a mark — gets prosecuted as a third-degree felony the moment a family or household relationship is involved. That’s a different category entirely from a standard assault case, and it deserves a defense strategy built for the stakes involved. Attorney Chelsi McLarty has spent over a decade defending Fort Worth clients against serious assault and domestic violence allegations, and she knows how these cases are built — and how they can be taken apart.
What The Law Actually Says
The charge most people refer to informally as “choking” is codified in Texas Penal Code § 22.01(b)(2)(B). It applies when someone intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly impedes another person’s normal breathing or blood circulation — by pressing on the throat or neck, or by blocking the nose or mouth — and that other person is a family member, someone in the same household, or a current or former dating partner.
What surprises a lot of people is how little has to happen for this charge to apply. There’s no requirement that the alleged victim lose consciousness, and there doesn’t need to be visible bruising or injury for prosecutors to move forward. A few seconds of pressure on the neck is enough to support the charge as written.
Why This Charge Carries More Weight Than Ordinary Assault
Ordinary assault causing bodily injury between family members is typically a Class A misdemeanor — serious, but capped at a year in county jail. The moment impeding breath or circulation enters the picture, the charge jumps straight to a third-degree felony. That’s the law treating choking-type conduct as inherently more dangerous than other forms of assault, regardless of whether visible injury resulted.
Penalties You're Actually Facing
Standard Penalty Range
A conviction is punishable by two to ten years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000. Community supervision (probation) may be available depending on the facts of the case and any prior record, with supervision periods generally running between two and ten years.
When Penalties Get Enhanced
If you have a prior conviction — or even a prior deferred adjudication — for an offense involving family violence, the charge can be enhanced to a second-degree felony, raising the potential sentence to two to twenty years in prison. It doesn’t matter if that prior case happened outside Texas or never resulted in a final conviction; a deferred adjudication still counts as a prior for enhancement purposes.
Consequences Beyond Prison Time
A conviction for this offense almost always comes with consequences that outlast the sentence itself: a permanent loss of firearm rights, a family violence finding that follows you on background checks indefinitely, and — for many clients — collateral fallout in custody disputes, professional licensing, and immigration status.
How These Cases Typically Arise
Most cases like this start with a 911 call during or after an argument — sometimes from the alleged victim, sometimes from a neighbor or third party who heard the commotion. Responding officers are trained to look specifically for signs consistent with strangulation: redness around the neck, voice changes, petechiae (small red marks) in the eyes, or simply a verbal claim of having trouble breathing. Once any of that is documented, police will frequently arrest on the more serious felony charge rather than a misdemeanor, even when physical evidence is minimal.
That dynamic matters for your defense. Because the felony charge often gets filed quickly and on limited evidence, there’s frequently real room to challenge how the allegation was investigated and documented before it ever reaches a grand jury.
Building A Defense
Every case is different, but a few defense strategies come up often in these charges:
Lack of Intent
The state has to prove the impeding was intentional, knowing, or reckless — not accidental. Physical contact during a struggle, an arm thrown out during an argument, or incidental contact while separating from someone can look very different once intent is properly challenged.
Self-Defense
Texas law allows a person to use reasonable force to protect themselves or someone else from harm. If the alleged contact happened while defending against an attack, that can be a complete defense to the charge.
Disputed or Unreliable Allegations
Domestic situations are often messy, and allegations sometimes arise out of custody disputes, breakups, or conflicting accounts of what actually happened. Inconsistent statements, text messages, photos, or witness accounts can all be used to challenge a narrative that doesn’t hold up under scrutiny.
Insufficient Evidence of Impeded Breathing or Circulation
Because the charge hinges specifically on impeding breath or blood flow — not just general bodily injury — the state’s proof on that exact element can sometimes be weaker than it first appears, especially when there’s no medical documentation.
Why This Is Not A Case To Handle Without Experienced Counsel
Felony cases move differently than misdemeanors — they typically have to go before a grand jury for indictment, which adds time but also creates an opportunity to present mitigating evidence before formal charges are even finalized. Attorney McLarty moves quickly to gather evidence, speak with witnesses, and — where appropriate — present a case directly to prosecutors before indictment, aiming to avoid the felony charge taking permanent root in the first place.
About Attorney Chelsi Mclarty
Chelsi McLarty has built her practice in Fort Worth around defending people facing serious criminal allegations, including domestic violence and assault charges. She’s been named a Top Attorney by Fort Worth Magazine every year since 2014, selected as a Super Lawyers Rising Star for seven consecutive years (2019–2025), and inducted into the Eldon B. Mahon Inn of Courts in 2023. Clients facing felony allegations need an attorney who treats the case with the seriousness it deserves from day one — that’s the standard she holds every case to.
Facing an Assault by Impeding Breath Charge? Don't Wait to Get Help.
This is a felony charge with real prison exposure, and the early decisions in your case matter enormously. Attorney Chelsi McLarty offers free, confidential consultations and is ready to start building your defense today.
(817) 900-3235 | chelsi@mclartylawfirm.com
855 Texas Street #140, Fort Worth, TX 76102 | Mon–Fri: 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM
