"Felony" brandishing?

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Article in the Free Lance-Star today about a drunk guy charged with "felony brandishing". According to the Code of Virginia, the only way brandishing can be a felony is if it is on or within 1000 feet of school property. This does not appear to be the case. There is a college campus in the area, but a college does not count as a school, and it's also a bit more than 1000 feet away, according to the scale on the map.

Any other way brandishing can be a felony?

TFred

§ 18.2-282. Pointing, holding, or brandishing firearm...

Article in the paper.

Link to Google map of the street where this happened.

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TFred wrote:

Article in the Free Lance-Star today about a drunk guy charged with "felony brandishing". According to the Code of Virginia, the only way brandishing can be a felony is if it is on or within 1000 feet of school property. This does not appear to be the case. There is a college campus in the area, but a college does not count as a school, and it's also a bit more than 1000 feet away, according to the scale on the map.

Any other way brandishing can be a felony?

TFred

§ 18.2-282. Pointing, holding, or brandishing firearm...

Article in the paper.

Link to Google map of the street where this happened.

Click to expand...

That is a good question, often it seems that articles like this leave much out.

I am assuming that his prior convictions were felony's as per the felony possession. Would it as well be attempted assault and battery as the story reads, I didn't see anything but threat?

I as am assuming that they had witnesses to the fact of the concealed as he was in his back yard when they found him, and the weapon was out when he was threatening as well could have been partially exposed too and from.

Not that I don't think this guy is a drunken nut, only that there is a lot missing from the story, I hate it when they do that.

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Facts have an annoying tendency of getting in the way of a good anti-gun rant, especially in our newspapers.

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darthmord wrote:

Facts have an annoying tendency of getting in the way of a good anti-gun rant, especially in our newspapers.

Click to expand...

Zing.

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What are you in for?

"Brandishing"

How about yourself?

"Felony Brandishing"


With that confession all the prisoners moved to the other side of the holding cell. Nobody wanted to be near the guy who would commit felony brandishing.


See, it makes a great story or copy.

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Maybe it is the PC term for Buck Naked?

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You can be charged with anything up to and including "Felony Walking Upright and Impersonating a Human Being" but that does not mean the charge will stick, or that you will be convicted of that charge (or even a lesser included offense).

There ought to besome sort of "Alcohol Was Involved" advisory in the headline of stories like this, to save us the time spent looking to confirm our suspicions. That way the folks over at The Darwin Awards would know how to classify the report of this doofus removal from the gene pool had he attempted such with an armed citizen.

stay safe.

skidmark

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The Free-Lance Star is known for their accurate reporting and correct description of facts are they not?

Whenever I hear mention of their name I put duct tape and hip waders on stand by alert.

Yata hey

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Could this be a case of the press accidentally doing their job and notifying the public of prosecutorial excess?

From the article:

Steven Layman, 64, was charged with felony brandishing, felony possession of a concealed weapon, carrying a concealed weapon and assault and battery. He was placed in the Rappahannock Regional Jail under no bond.

Layman has a long history of arrests in Stafford. He has a trial scheduled in May for possessing a firearm as a felon.

Huh? As mentioned by others, how is it felony brandishing? Since when is a pocketed BB gun (as the article says) a concealed weapon? A BB gun is a firearm if possessed by a felon?

I wonder if the felon angle is a clue to repeat offenses that bumps up the seriousness. Or, maybe just because it was done by a felon-in-possession, do some of the other offenses become felonies?

Heh, heh, heh. I guess at a certain level, anything done by a felon is a felony.

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Grapeshot wrote:

The Free-Lance Star is known for their accurate reporting and correct description of facts are they not?

Whenever I hear mention of their name I put duct tape and hip waders on stand by alert.

Yata hey

Click to expand...

Oh no not the duct tape again, still cant get the pictures out of my head from that other thread:banghead: