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Wednesday, October 21, 2009

??!! Indecent Exposure!

Posted by Paul Constant on Wed, Oct 21, 2009 at 12:58 PM

It's illegal to be naked in your own home in Virginia:

Springfield, Virginia resident Eric Williamson was arrested and charged with indecent exposure yesterday for failing to put on any clothes after getting up at 5:30 am to make some coffee. A woman and her 7-year-old daughter had cut across Williamson's front yard and saw him through his kitchen window.

I like how the original story makes a point to say that the naked coffee guy is from Hawaii. Well, that explains his shameless hedonism.

Comments (28) RSS

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What were the mom and her seven year-old daughter doing crossing the guy's lawn at 5:30 AM?

Posted by Bub on October 21, 2009 at 1:04 PM

Wait...what??? They were trespassing, at 5:30 in the frickin' morning. I think the man had a reasonable expectation of privacy here --- I bet anyone a buck this gets dismissed.

Posted by J-Haxx

on October 21, 2009 at 1:04 PM

Virginia is most definitely the country's most asinine state. Hands down.

Posted by Jersey on October 21, 2009 at 1:10 PM

I imagine the Hawaii comment was meant to imply a skin color, not a lifestyle.

Posted by Chip on October 21, 2009 at 1:10 PM

But wait! The man is very white. Interesting . . .

Posted by Chip on October 21, 2009 at 1:11 PM

So, basically in Virginia it's illegal to be seen doing anything that might potentially offend someone else while inside your own home?

Isn't this one of those states where half the population will instantaneously go ballistic whenever they get a whiff that the gubamint might even be thinking about taking away one of their Kunstitooshunal Rights? But at the same time they don't believe one has a right to privacy within their own domicile unless they keep all the windows shuttered?

Is there some cognitive disconnect I'm missing here or is this just plain fucked up?

Posted by COMTE

on October 21, 2009 at 1:14 PM

I hear our President was born in Hawaii .... hmm.

Posted by Will in Seattle

on October 21, 2009 at 1:17 PM

Um... if they can see into your house FROM A PUBLIC PLACE, then yeah, you can't walk around naked because it's like doing it in public.

However, since the offended parties were WALKING ACROSS THE GUY'S LAWN, I think it would only be fair to drop the charges. Unfortunately it is Virginia so who knows...

Posted by Matt from Denver on October 21, 2009 at 1:24 PM

So let me get this straight, it's okay to be a peeping Tom in Virginia?

Posted by Cato the Younger Younger on October 21, 2009 at 1:26 PM

i'm trying to imagine the call to 911 @ 5:31 reporting this crime.

also, it's just odd to say that someone got up TO make some coffee. don't most people get up because it's time to GET UP, and then make some coffee? it's not the REASON you get out of bed. it's the means of staying awake.

Posted by Max Solomon on October 21, 2009 at 1:33 PM

@11: To make coffee is the only reason I ever drag my ass out of bed. Coffee is delicious!

Posted by TVDinner

on October 21, 2009 at 1:37 PM

Erm. I meant @10. Coincidentally, I had no coffee today.

Posted by TVDinner

on October 21, 2009 at 1:37 PM

Apparently, it's okay to trespass on a person's property and peep in their window, but not sleep in the buff and get up to make coffee in VA. Good to know.

Posted by kim in portland

on October 21, 2009 at 1:41 PM

@2 is right.

He should have shot them with an AK-47 for trespassing.

Posted by Will in Seattle

on October 21, 2009 at 1:45 PM

It's actually not okay to walk across someone's lawn and peep in their window, it's just not a *crime*. It's trespassing, which is a tort, one that does not require damages, which means the guy should sue the fuck out of this stupid woman, and he will win because she has already admitted to the police that she committed the tort.

Posted by sf gal on October 21, 2009 at 1:51 PM

That state is most definately not for lovers.

Posted by Dougsf on October 21, 2009 at 1:55 PM

@11: that sentence makes it sound like as soon as he had the coffee, he was going back to sleep.

and if you didn't have coffee today, WHY did you get up? or are you still in bed?

Posted by Max Solomon on October 21, 2009 at 2:19 PM

But it is legal for him to kill someone that enters his house. Nakedness is destroying so many lives...

Posted by Sargon Bighorn on October 21, 2009 at 2:55 PM

It's true, we don't wear very much clothing here. He probably wasn't quite acclimated to Virginia's prudish sensibilities.

Posted by jim in hawaii on October 21, 2009 at 3:05 PM

So what you're saying is that Obama hangs around the White House naked? Is it just at 5:30am, or all the time?

Posted by rhymeswithlibrarian on October 21, 2009 at 3:06 PM

I'm not really sure what you're getting at, SB (@18), but yes, breaking into houses destroys many lives, and especially that of the scumball who gets what he deserves.

Posted by Fifty-Two-Eighty

on October 21, 2009 at 3:13 PM

@20 .. no, that's in your fantasies ...

Posted by Will in Seattle

on October 21, 2009 at 3:14 PM

16 almost gets the win, but there's no A in definitely.

Posted by asshole on October 21, 2009 at 4:15 PM

This doesn't surprise me in the least. In Virginia Beach, near Norfolk, it's illegal to swear in public. If you're caught, you can be fined something like $200.

Posted by Etherite on October 21, 2009 at 4:41 PM

@24--That's totally fucked up!

Posted by pablissima on October 21, 2009 at 5:42 PM

So...what's the protocol for a protest. Do we all get up, naked, at 5.30 and stand in our windows?

Posted by GlennFleishman

on October 21, 2009 at 6:00 PM

The story in your link has been heavily rewritten since you posted it. The woman who made the call was either misquoted by the police, or is lying her ass off in attempt to cover said posterior. I'm betting the latter.

Posted by DanB on October 21, 2009 at 6:18 PM

@15: Care to name your source for that information? Cause this says that pretty much every word of your statement is dead wrong:

http://www.enotes.com/everyday-law-encyc…

Posted by Lee on October 21, 2009 at 6:41 PM