Pretty soon they'll drop the misdemeanor charge altogether in favor of participation trophies.
Sigh.
Pretty soon they'll drop the misdemeanor charge altogether in favor of participation trophies.
Sigh.
Yes, it appears to be only a misdemeanor, with an enhancement to a felony for certain occupations.
This is the relevant section of the VA state code: https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/...ection18.2-57/
§ 18.2-57. Assault and battery; penalty.
A. Any person who commits a simple assault or assault and battery is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor, and if the person intentionally selects the person against whom a simple assault is committed because of his race, religious conviction, gender, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, color, or national origin, the penalty upon conviction shall include a term of confinement of at least six months.
B. However, if a person intentionally selects the person against whom an assault and battery resulting in bodily injury is committed because of his race, religious conviction, gender, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, color, or national origin, the person is guilty of a Class 6 felony, and the penalty upon conviction shall include a term of confinement of at least six months.
C. In addition, if any person commits an assault or an assault and battery against another knowing or having reason to know that such other person is a judge, a magistrate, a law-enforcement officer as defined in subsection F, a correctional officer as defined in § 53.1-1, a person directly involved in the care, treatment, or supervision of inmates in the custody of the Department of Corrections or an employee of a local or regional correctional facility directly involved in the care, treatment, or supervision of inmates in the custody of the facility, a person directly involved in the care, treatment, or supervision of persons in the custody of or under the supervision of the Department of Juvenile Justice, an employee or other individual who provides control, care, or treatment of sexually violent predators committed to the custody of the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, a firefighter as defined in § 65.2-102, or a volunteer firefighter or any emergency medical services personnel member who is employed by or is a volunteer of an emergency medical services agency or as a member of a bona fide volunteer fire department or volunteer emergency medical services agency, regardless of whether a resolution has been adopted by the governing body of a political subdivision recognizing such firefighters or emergency medical services personnel as employees, engaged in the performance of his public duties anywhere in the Commonwealth, such person is guilty of a Class 6 felony, and, upon conviction, the sentence of such person shall include a mandatory minimum term of confinement of six months.
During my 12 years in Virginia law enforcement I had or saw almost every assault on LE reduced to a misdemeanor simple assault unless there was a deadly weapon involved or serious injury consistent with Malicious Wounding or other higher offenses. Not that I agree with it but Assault on LE was usually reduced to basic simple assault. The county I worked in was very pro-law enforcement so I can only imagine how it was treated in those less than supportive jurisdictions.
Here in Tennessee assault on LE is also a misdemeanor unless it meets the statutory elements of aggravated assault or something even more severe.
In NY, (Suffolk County), my partner was conducting a background check on a candidate for a position in our agency, and the nutjob he was interviewing was convinced he was really there about him, not the background check. Held him at gunpoint for hours before he talked his way out of there.
He was never charged.
There's nothing civil about this war.
Christ. Working at a D.A.'s office you don't know how many times I heard that little axiom of prosecutorial wisdom. I had actually been thinking of posting a thread to the effect that there needs to be stronger penalties for resisting arrest, much akin to how many states have made egregious vehicular eluding or DUI chargeable as a felony, where it used to be merely a traffic offense with license penalty points in some places, parallel to careless or reckless driving.
At some point the public might want to start giving a flying frak that virtually all of these ugly uses of force were precipitated by the suspect who, instead of accepting a ride and a couple snapshots, then beating a bad charge in court, decided to dispute it on the street.
It would certainly be par for the modern course that the ultra-left would move on changing penalties to encourage more batteries on officers and more instances of resisting arrest.
-All views expressed are those of the author and do not reflect those of the author's employer-
When I started, there was a crusty old judge who clearly felt he was above it all and that police officers were a lower form of life. The only time I saw him respond appropriately to to an injury to an officer was after a defendant, arrested on an open warrant, by a county officer and myself after his court appearance, tried to escape, resulting in a spectacular crash through the glass door of the courthouse. The suspect's actions were suddenly important to Judge Klaven while I doubt they would be an issue if it had happened anywhere else.
Important learning point and safety tip: Do not crash through plate crash windows. It will not work out as well as it does in the movies.