Arrested for being naked at home

[Epok]

If the sun was up on that side of the house, then it's less likely that he would be visible from inside the house. (You're a lot more visible when you have lights on in the house and it's dark outside.)

Also, the story says that the complaint specifies that he intentionally exposed himself once out the kitchen glass door and again out the front window. So did this woman first trespass in the back yard, then go peeping in the front window? Sounds fishy to me.

I lived in Hampton Roads, Virginia for about nine months. I was visiting my dad who just retired from the Army. People there were pretty nosey. I had the cops called on me for smoking a cigarette at 3 am on my Dad's front porch. Virginia is also home to Pat Robertson, Ted Haggart and a lot of the 700 Club. I'm from Alabama and I thought they were Bible thumpers compared to my hometown.

 

[Praktik]

I had the cops called on me for smoking a cigarette at 3 am on my Dad's front porch. .

Wowzers. Did they think you were smoking pot??

Reminds me of when I ordered a pizza when my parents were gone when I was 16. Neighbour across the street came to ask my mom after they got back: "is it ok that he ordered the pizza?"

My mom was pissed at her.

 

[HeyLeroy]

I think panicking over nudity should be eliminated.

Seconded.

 

[marksman]

Fine, I won't panic over nudity. but can I still get nude when I panic?

 

[Dancing David]

Is this going to be decided on privacy though?

Perhaps it might go along the lines of the Canadian case, whether it counts as a "public place" or not.

In any event I was under the impression that privacy was not a hard and fast "right" under American jurisprudence. Or did they find that in a "penumbra" somewhere?

Well but the man aknowledged that it was commonly used as a cut through, so it is hard to say.

 

[JFrankA]

I think panicking over nudity should be eliminated.

Seconded.

Thirded.

Fine, I won't panic over nudity. but can I still get nude when I panic?

...please do.

 

[NorfolkAtheist]

Virginia is also home to Pat Robertson, Ted Haggart and a lot of the 700 Club.

Virginia is not home to Ted Haggard.

 

[JFrankA]

Virginia is not home to Ted Haggard.

Virginia is the home of Linden LaRouche...... remember him?

 

[jer_j]

I remember another case like this in a hotel. A man was standing naked behind one of those big glass doors looking out on the pool/common area. When people complained, he tried to claim he had a right to privacy in his room, and they were peeping toms. He was found guilty of indecent exposure on the grounds that he knew people could see him and did nothing to hide himself.

I think knowledge of whether you're visible is at least one of the keys in cases like this. It might get more complex than that... but in general, unless you're really blatant, you'll probably get off with a warning at most. If someone's in his kitchen even at 8:30 in the morning, I would guess he had reasonable expectation of privacy (depending entirely on the arrangement of the house/window.)

 

[desertgal]

People don't often need to have grounds for complaints to complain though.

Too true.

Well, all I can say is if you don't want to see your neighbor naked, don't trespass on his land.

 

[Sledge]

On what's been in the news so far, this seems like a total overreaction. You'd think a simple phone call or visit from a cop saying "Buddy, people can see in through your window. Cover yourself up a little and save us dealing with women touring their children through their yard, huh?" would be enough.

 

[Dancing David]

Still no new info:
http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/dpp/news/Virginia_Man_Busted_for_Naked_Coffee_102209

-8:30am
-moved to front of house (allged)
-possible other sightings

Police spokesperson:

Because this was being spun into a national story and the idea you can't be naked in your own house, we wanted to come forward and say, in this case, our officers believed there was probable cause the law had been violated," said Jennings

 

[shandyjan]

Gosh, people go naked at home? Ooh the luxury, I can only try that when my sons leave home and all their visitors stop visiting!
Seriously, what happened to laughing at the sight of a naked man? Unless he was flashing or makes a habit of this of course, then it stops being funny!

 

[Matthew Best]

I'm confused - did this happen at 5:30 or 8:30? There seem to be conflicting reports.

 

[Epok]

Wowzers. Did they think you were smoking pot??

Reminds me of when I ordered a pizza when my parents were gone when I was 16. Neighbour across the street came to ask my mom after they got back: "is it ok that he ordered the pizza?"

My mom was pissed at her.

Its possible that they thought I was smoking pot but I still thought it was weird that they called the cops on me for that. I smoke pot on my front porch in Alabama all the time and I've never had the cops called on me for that.

Virginia is not home to Ted Haggard.

Ok I was wrong about Ted Haggard. I was thinking of the Friends of God documentary, he might have been in Virginia when he did that interview but he was close to the 700 Club. I was just pointing out how big the fundamentalist movement is in Virginia.

 

[Puppycow]

The OP misread some things, and left other things out. The incident happened ~ 8:30 in the morning, the guy was probably hung over, he apparently stood directly in front of the window twice, and this apparently is not the first incident of its type. Also, there was no mention that the woman and child might have been trespassing, and the house in question is directly across the street from a school bus stop.

Yeah, that makes a big difference.

 

[Matthew Best]

How much of it is verified, though?

 

[bluesjnr]

How much of it is verified, though?

I think that the attempt to verify the original complaint from the woman is what has caused this furore in 1st place.

It seems to me that there is evidence that he has done this before which would introduce probable cause. The authorities have canvassed the neighbourhood (with flyers would you believe) asking people if they have seen him on other occasions doing the same thing.

If it turns out that he has then it's good solid policing. If the reverse is the case, then it's a criminal waste of public money and public servants time.

Damned if you do damned if you don't!

 

[Matthew Best]

It seems to me that there is evidence that he has done this before

What evidence? I haven't seen any.

 

[bluesjnr]

What evidence? I haven't seen any.

And unless the police turn up any or you are actually an officer working the case you are unlikely to Matthew. They are acting on reports which, if proven, will become evidence that he has done this before.

The details are in the reports linked to in the OP. Which, incidentally is entitled;

Police: Others May Have Seen Naked Man

Let's just call it a line of enquiry then.

"We've heard there may have been other people who had a similar incident," said Mary Ann Jennings, a Fairfax County Police spokesperson.

On Wednesday, investigators told FOX 5 they have reason to believe there may have been another incident in which someone saw Williamson naked in front of his window. They're asking anyone who may have seen Williamson in the nude through his windows to come forward, even if it was at a different time.