Moon over Maryland

Another silly case...

(Slightly edited from the original report in the Detroit News:)

A Maryland judge has ruled that mooning is a cheeky yet legitimate form of communication. "With hard work, we cracked the case, no buts about it," lawyer James Maxwell said of his legal victory last week.

Last June, exasperated by a feud involving a homeowners association, Raymond McNealy, 44, of Germantown, Md. felt moved to moon his neighbor Nanette Vonfeldt, a Member of the association's board, who was accompanied by her 8-year-old daughter.

McNealy was tried for indecent exposure and found guilty last fall. His Misbegotten moon could have cost him three years in prison and a $1,000 fine.

After an automatic appeal, last week the verdict was reversed.

In ruling that buttocks are never "private parts" to fit the crime of indecent exposure, Circuit Court Judge John Debelius III said, "If exposure of half of the buttock constituted indecent exposure, any woman wearing a thong at the beach at Ocean City would be guilty."

- Garry J. Wise

Visit our Website - www.wiselaw.net

Unborn Baby not a Person - Arizona Car Pool Judge

See this ABC News story on breaking developments in Phoenix, Arizona traffic law.

A very pregnant woman, after being stopped by the police for driving alone in a carpool lane limited to vehicles with more than one passenger, pointed to her very expectant stomach and said something like... "But officer, there are two of us...."

On Tuesday, an Arizona judge ruled that fetuses should not be considered passengers in HOV lanes. On Nov. 8, Ahwatukee, Ariz., resident Candace Dickinson, who was nine months pregnant and driving alone, hoped to break out of Phoenix's heavy rush-hour traffic and moved into an HOV lane. Police pulled her over and wrote a ticket.

Dickinson, 23, fought the ticket, saying that her then-unborn child was her other occupant. She appeared in court Tuesday to state her case, but Municipal Court Judge Dennis Freeman rejected her argument.

The mom-to-be was found guilty and fined $367.00.

One can only hope this case will not attract the attention of Ralph Reed and the pro-Life movement.

- Garry J. Wise

Visit our Website - www.wiselaw.net