"SPRINGFIELD, Va., Oct. 20 (UPI) -- A Virginia man said he is fighting the indecent exposure charge brought against him after he was spotted making coffee naked in his kitchen."
"..."Yes, I wasn't wearing any clothes but I was alone, in my own home and just got out of bed. It was dark and I had no idea anyone was outside looking in at me," Williamson said."
video:
Damn right he needs to fight it. The right of nakedness at home is sacred. The peeping tom needs to be arrested.
Which reminds me.....
Warn me next time! I need an eye rinse, now.
Holy s*it, I guess I better wear a robe when I next make coffee.
Old Justin Wilson skit:
Woman calls to report flasher. Police come, but can only see head, neck, and shoulders. Woman to responding officers, "Stand on this chair, and you will get a better view".
Someone spying in on someone innocuously making coffee in the buff and calling the police? Sounds like they need to question her instead. Or she needs to get a life.
Steve
Kinda like the story about some farmer complaining about skinny dippers at a rock concert back in the 70's. Under further questioning, he revealed that he had to use binoculars to see them.
Hey pervs, close your curtains.
Virginia Code 19.2-81 "... officers may arrest, without a warrant, any person who commits any crime in the presence of the officer and any person whom he has reasonable grounds or probable cause to suspect of having committed a felony not in his presence."
I would see dollar signs but the fool admitted on national TV he was naked.
He should have claimed he was wearing flesh-colored pajamas or a thong.
But is being naked in your own house a felony?
Why claim anything? No need to defend himself for being naked. This guy was in his own house. Watch for coming interviews. Somebody screwed the pooch.
No! In this case it is a Misdemeanor.
The reason you need the "presence of the officer".
He was charged with a 3rd degree felony.
There was a woman and a kid cutting through his yard who saw him through the window. I got the impression from reading one article that she believed he was deliberately displaying himself once he saw them. To me, the lesson to be learned from that would be: keep out of other people's yards -- but she called the cops.
We had a pro hockey player years ago here plead guilty to indecent exposure after a neighbor told the cops he had a longtime habit of doing things around his home/property in ways that were sure to show off his naughty bits. Such as walking outside to the garage wearing only a shirt. He'd manually lift the garage door, the shirt would ride up, and everyone would get a good view. The cops began watching him and caught him at it. But he was doing that stuff outside, not inside.
And so what if he was "deliberately displaying himself". He was INSIDE his house. It sounds like only a trespasser would have been able to see him, so it sounds like they got what they deserved. My house is far off the road and I can barely see my neighbors. For anyone to see into my windows from the sides or the back of the house they have to be standing on my enclosed deck. Anyone who can see me making coffee will get arrested when I call the police to report a trespasser. The cop sounds like an idiot.
Outside in daylight, or inside during the night time, would there be any difference if the clueless coffee maker had his curtains open?
If this coffee maker would of been standing outside the window nobody would of saw him. He would of been in the dark. Once he goes inside with any light on anybody can see him if he has his curtains open.
I'm not saying that he should of been charged, but the replies that state you're immune from prosecution just because you are inside your own home is a ridiculous argument.
Depends on where. Going back the other way, paparazzi etc., can only legally take pictures of what they can see on the sidewalk (literally the sidewalk, so they can't get a ladder to put on the sidewalk to take pics over the fence). That should work the other way, too. Sounds from at least one of the articles that the c/p wasn't on a public area. THAT is when it gets ridiculous the other way.
That's odd, the Hippie chicks I knew were not into tattoos. Tramp Stamps and the like manifested in a later generation.
TDD
Trespassing is not usually a criminal offense. In my state, you have to take additional steps to elevate civil trespass to a criminal level. You can do this by personally demanding the person leave or by posting sufficient sinage asserting same. Even then, there are numerous categories of people who, by definition, cannot be a criminal trespasser (and, hence, cannot be arrested). Some are:
No, but trespassing and peeking in the windows at the nekkid occupants is a criminal offense. If that window faced away from the sidewalk so that the homeowner had a reasonable expectation that he couldn't be seen, the cops arrested the wrong person.
IANAL, Bob
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