So, I'm trying to work my way through the new laws which have been passed by our General Assembly and signed by the Governor. These are always interesting because you get to see what has caught the attention of the law makers and you learn about things you didn't even know were in the law. So far, there does not seem to be anything too incredibly groundbreaking this year.

Probably, the biggest change I've run across is the fact that Virginia is going to have Rules of Evidence promulgated by the Virginia Supreme Court as of 01 July 2012 (HB-101). The claim is that these are merely codifying existing common law rules, but I've glanced over them and there appear to be changes to long held Virginia common law rules.

There are, of course, other important changes in the law. For instance, the County Treasurer is now allowed to carry a firearm into the courthouse (HB-288) and dogs can now be trained to hunt bear from 4 a.m. to 10 p.m. during bear hound training season - as long as no bear is captured or killed (HB-95). Because that was a law which desperately needed passing.

When I finish all my summaries of all the new laws I'll be sure to post them.

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Posted Originally at CrimLaw - http://crimlaw.blogspot.com

For those of you who believed that YouTube exists only to show officers behaving badly, here are three proving it's not (entirely) so.

1. The Maine State Trooper: This one's been around the web for years. This Trooper endures all sorts of abuse from the driver and his reaction? He just slowly, but surely tells the man everything he's supposed to. Slowly.



2. Chat 'em Up: There's nothing too spectacular about this one. Two protesters were pretty much being ignored until this state police officer came out to check on someone wearing an orange jump suit. The protesters seem impressed.



3. Open Carry: In this case it's fairly obvious that the guy walking around openly carrying a firearm is hoping to provoke something. The officer comes up and starts a typical safety check (you have a right to open carry - conversely, other citizens have a right to be worried when they see a guy walking down the street armed), but he quickly cottons to what's going on and turns it. By the end of the video he turns right into the camera, makes sure he's centered, and announces his name, badge number, and department.

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Posted Originally at CrimLaw - http://crimlaw.blogspot.com

Oops, ummm, Officer I was just, ummm . . .

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Posted Originally at CrimLaw - http://crimlaw.blogspot.com