§ 121.11 Criminal obstruction of breathing or blood circulation.\n A person is guilty of criminal obstruction of breathing or blood\ncirculation when, with intent to impede the normal breathing or\ncirculation of the blood of another person, he or she:\n a. applies pressure on the throat or neck of such person; or\n b. blocks the nose or mouth of such person.\n Criminal obstruction of breathing or blood circulation is a class A\nmisdemeanor.\n
N.Y. Penal Law § 121.11
Criminal obstruction of breathing or blood circulation
Applied in 43 court decisions — leading case United States v. Peguero (2022)
Most recently applied in 87 Misc. 3d 135 - People v. Blakely (Tayquan) (December 2025)
2014-09-22
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
Official source: NYS Open Legislation (New York State Senate). Reproduced from public-domain New York statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.