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US: Virginia holds that laser light can cause battery to persons
A July 20 2020 story about a Virginia legislature bill included the following description of a 1999 court case:
In another case from 1999, a high school senior in Gloucester County received a six-month prison sentence for shining a six-dollar laser pointer in the eye of a sheriff’s deputy.
The teenager appealed, arguing nothing touched the deputy because lasers have no mass. The Court of Appeals also upheld that conviction, ruling that a battery occurred because shining a light beam at someone can be considered 'unlawful touching."
One judge warned the battery-by-light-beams theory went too far.
“Will the next prosecution for battery be based upon failure to dim high beams in traffic, flash photography too close to the subject, high intensity flashlight beams or sonic waves from a teenager’s car stereo?” the dissenting judge wrote.
The General Assembly later passed a law specifying that pointing lasers at cops is a misdemeanor.
The case was cited as the Commonwealth's legislature debated a bill to "defelonize" non-injurious assaults on law enforcement officers. As of 2020, the law has a mandatory minimum jail term of six months. An example of an egregious case included a woman who hit an officer with a piece of onion ring. A Commonwealth Attorney said she often sees behaviors such as pushing, spitting or elbowing during a situation — not premeditated attacks on unsuspecting officers.
From the Virginia Mercury. LaserPointerSafety.com was unable to find any additional links or references to the 1999 case.
In another case from 1999, a high school senior in Gloucester County received a six-month prison sentence for shining a six-dollar laser pointer in the eye of a sheriff’s deputy.
The teenager appealed, arguing nothing touched the deputy because lasers have no mass. The Court of Appeals also upheld that conviction, ruling that a battery occurred because shining a light beam at someone can be considered 'unlawful touching."
One judge warned the battery-by-light-beams theory went too far.
“Will the next prosecution for battery be based upon failure to dim high beams in traffic, flash photography too close to the subject, high intensity flashlight beams or sonic waves from a teenager’s car stereo?” the dissenting judge wrote.
The General Assembly later passed a law specifying that pointing lasers at cops is a misdemeanor.
The case was cited as the Commonwealth's legislature debated a bill to "defelonize" non-injurious assaults on law enforcement officers. As of 2020, the law has a mandatory minimum jail term of six months. An example of an egregious case included a woman who hit an officer with a piece of onion ring. A Commonwealth Attorney said she often sees behaviors such as pushing, spitting or elbowing during a situation — not premeditated attacks on unsuspecting officers.
From the Virginia Mercury. LaserPointerSafety.com was unable to find any additional links or references to the 1999 case.