TATE Staunton News Leader - 11/15/2020 Copy Reduced to 91% from original to fit letter page Page : B01

Projectile
law carries
a heavy
charge.
Why is this?
Laura Peters Staunton News Leader
USA TODAY NETWORK

Did you know throwing any type of

Street and Wayne Avenue in downtown Waynesboro.
projectile at a moving car or vehicle
can get you charged with a felony?
Well, the law is broad — and it’s
meant to be that way, according to Au-
gusta County Commonwealth’s Attor-
ney Tim Martin.
The News Leader has been high-
lighting the significance of the magis-
trate office and discrepancies in the
way that the judicial system operates.
Recently, a white man in Staunton
charged with three misdemeanors and
one felony got a $1,000 unsecured
bond and was let go.
A week earlier, a Black man from
Stuarts Draft spent the entire weekend
in Middle River Regional Jail with one
misdemeanor and a felony charge be-

o sets up
fore receiving a $5,000 unsecured
bond requirement.
The Stuarts Draft case involved a
claim by law enforcement that the
man hit a car with his skateboard. The

mas trail
felony charge was “shooting/throwing
missiles at an occupied vehicle.”
Martin has no connection to the
Staunton case, so he couldn’t com-
ment on it.
His office is handling the Stuarts
Draft case, and since it’s ongoing he
ce the canceled annual parade couldn’t comment on it. Instead, he of-
fered some insight to how the charge
works and why it’s so broad.
“I suspect it’s broad, because they
don’t want to limit it to shooting, be-
reverse parade Saturday, Dec. 12, from cause you can throw other things that
ld Invista parking lot, allowing could be a danger ... if you throw a rock
or a hard item in a car, while the car is
their vehicles by parked floats. moving fast and if it hits somebody in-
side the car, it could hurt or kill them,”
e parade will parades, but didn’t have a float, are sug- he said. “I suspect they wanted to
at spectators gested to reach out to see how partici- make sure it encompasses just about
oats in their pation can work. any old thing, any old projectile you
For more information visit waynes send that way.”
lows specta- boro.va.us/258/Christmas-Parade. The law, states:
es by parked In October, Staunton announced its Any person who maliciously shoots
p around the Christmas parade was canceled. In- at, or maliciously throws any missile at
on Race Ave. stead, the are suggesting participation or against, any train or cars on any rail-
slowly drive in the 16th Annual Celebration of Holi- road or other transportation company
eas to experi- day Lights in Gypsy Hill Park. The Cele- or any vessel or other watercraft, or
new perspec- bration of Holiday Lights start Nov. 23 any motor vehicle or other vehicles
and run through the New Year. when occupied by one or more per-
must stay on For more information visit sons, whereby the life of any person on
cars need to celebrationoflights.org. such train, car, vessel, or other water-
ey are experi- Have a news tip? craft, or in such motor vehicle or other
verse parade You can reach reporter Laura Peters vehicle, may be put in peril, is guilty of
release said. at lpeters@newsleader.com. Follow her
ated in past @peterslaura. See LAW, Page 3B
Copyright � 2020 Staunton News Leader 11/15/2020
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Staunton News Leader - 11/15/2020
Law
Continued from Page 1B
a Class 4 felony. In the event of the
death of any such person, resulting
from such malicious shooting or throw-
ing, the person so offending is guilty of
murder in the second degree. However,
if the homicide is willful, deliberate,
and premeditated, he is guilty of mur-
der in the first degree.
If any such act is committed unlaw-
fully, but not maliciously, the person so
offending is guilty of a Class 6 felony
and, in the event of the death of any
such person, resulting from such un-
lawful act, the person so offending is
guilty of involuntary manslaughter.
If any person commits a violation of
this section by maliciously or unlawful-
ly shooting, with a firearm, at a con-
spicuously marked law-enforcement,
fire, or emergency medical services ve-
hicle, the sentence imposed shall in-
clude a mandatory minimum term of
imprisonment of one year to be served
consecutively with any other sentence.
— Virginia Law 18.2-154
Initially someone could get charged
with this felony — either a class 4 or
class 6, which carry different jail times.
Or, it could get dropped down to a felo-
ny count or misdemeanor count of de-
struction of property. It all depends on
what the situation is, Martin said.
But the law has to be broad because
they have to make sure everything that
could happen is highlighted. If it just
said “shooting” then other projectiles
wouldn’t apply.
“Let’s say the guy isn’t shooting at
cars, but instead he’s throwing rocks at
cars or using a slingshot or using a bow
and arrow or using any number of
things, in order for it to encompass all
that it would need to encompass, it had
to be written fairly broadly,” Martin
said. “So, you don’t want to have a guy
out there using a hard implement that
they’re throwing at a car with maybe an
open window while the car is driving
and the object could go in and do seri-
ous damage to somebody and (it) turns
out that isn’t a crime because this one
just says shooting.”
And the seriousness of the charge
comes with if someone does the act
with malice. A class 4 felony of this
charge carries 10 years in jail — that’s if
they can prove the person acted in mal-
ice. A class 6 felony of this charge car-
ries 5 years in jail — if it’s done without
malice.
For the Stuarts Draft man, 22-year-
old Devin Alexander Turner, he’s facing
a class 4 felony, according to the Staun-
Copyright � 2020 Staunton News Leader 11/15/2020
November 16, 2020 9:05 am (GMT -5:00)
ton Deputy Public Defender Duane Bar-
ron. His office is handling the case, but
he’s not the attorney on it.
According to the sheriff ’s office’s
version of events, on the afternoon of
Oct. 16, Turner was walking along Draft
Avenue when he threw his skateboard
at a car as it passed by.
“The offense is really broad,” Barron
said. “When you read it, they shoot that
missile at a moving car, you think, ‘wow
that’s super dangerous.’”
But, since the law is so broad, some-
times what you think isn’t a missile, ac-
tually might be one. It’s the prosecutors
job to prove that it was intended with
malice, which is the challenge, Barron
said.
“There have been people charged
with this charge for throwing a drink at
somebody,” Barron said. “Anything you
throw, or anything that becomes air-
borne can be missile.”
Lots of criminal charges are this
broad, to allow prosecutors discretion,
Barron said.
“I think there are lots of people who
have committed the basic thing to be
convicted of this offense. These things
happen all the time, so they can charge
this guy with the offense — serious fel-
ony or not a crime at all,” he said.
Those charged with it could have
done a wide range of throwing activ-
ities. Take this 2010 incident in Harri-
sonburg when two college students
were throwing snowballs at vehicles.
Two James Madison University stu-
dents each faced this felony charge for
throwing snowballs at a city snowplow
and an unmarked police car, according
to a Washington Post story.
Then in 2013, five teenagers faced
the same felony charges after they were
accused of throwing snowballs at mov-
ing cars in Richmond. Police said at
least three drivers were blindsided by
snowballs, according to a story by CBS
6 News.
It’s unclear if any of those charges
stuck — for the incident in Harrison-
burg or in Richmond — because the
suspects were not named in the arti-
cles.
Or, most recently, on Oct. 28 a group
of four people were arrested after a pro-
test in Richmond. Richmond police
said they saw the group throwing
things at people, a business and a po-
lice vehicle, an article by the Richmond
Times-Dispatch said. One of them was
charged with inciting a riot and throw-
ing a missile at an occupied vehicle.
Have a news tip?
You can reach reporter Laura Peters
at lpeters@newsleader.com. Follow her
@peterslaura.
Page : B03
US citize
question
ASSOCIATED PRESS
PHOENIX – An updated
ship test will require appl
swer more questions than
could slow the number o
each day, experts said.
The U.S. Citizenship a
tion Services agency on
nounced the updated test
civics items to study and
applicants answer 20 q
stead of 10.
To pass, applicants mu
correctly, or 60%. That’s th
rate as before.
The new test also rem
phy questions and alters
such as requiring applica
three branches of governm
of one.
It also changes the answ
tion on whom U.S. senato
from “all people of the st
zens in their state,” whic
criticism over its accuracy
Sarah Pierce, a policy a
D.C.-based, nonpartisan
Policy Institute, said that
to the naturalization test
bly triple the amount each
and Immigration Serv
spends testing applicants
Pierce said that und
rules, applicants could pot
answer six of 10 questions
all the correct answers, bu
cants must respond to 2
even when they already
them correct.
“These changes reduce
cy of this already strugg
School
Continued from Page 1B
night’s school board mee
that, based on surveys, a
283 are expected to retur
ber. That would mean abo
middle school students w
of the hybrid plan. The re
fully virtual.
“The half-day in-pers
works pretty well and mi
of the things that some of o
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