man gets convicted of assualt after spitting at someone

daveymark

Lifer
Sep 15, 2003
10,573
1
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SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A man who intentionally spat at another can be charged with criminal assault, a U.S. appeals court ruled on Wednesday.

Jeffrey Lewellyn was sentenced to two years probation and 50 hours of community service after he spat in 2004 at a patient who swore at him on the grounds of a Veterans Administration Medical Center in Walla Walla, Washington.

He appealed the conviction, arguing that spitting did not constitute an assault, but the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals disagreed.

"Intentionally spitting on another person is an offensive touching that rises to the level of simple assault," the three-judge panel wrote.





what's next? Blowing kisses with a lisp = sexual assault?
 

BigJ

Lifer
Nov 18, 2001
21,330
1
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I have no problem with this ruling. If a person ever dared to spit in my face, he better be damn ready to defend himself. I'd rather have a person try to slug me then spit in my face.
 

AdamDuritz99

Diamond Member
Mar 26, 2000
3,233
0
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Originally posted by: KLin
I agree with the appeal court's decision.

I work on an ambulance as a paramedic, and unfortunately it isn't an uncommon to get spit on. Depending on a few things we can report it to the police. The patient then will get charged with simple assault. However I've never heard of anyone around here getting convicted. I wish they did, it's just disgusting.