Eric Williamson was aquitted of an indecent exposure charge made against him last October. Williamson was in his own kitchen drinking coffee, sans clothing one morning. A woman, cutting through his yard with her kid, saw him through the screen door and said he made eye contact with her. She called the police who entered Williamson’s home without a warrant and swore that the glass was broken on one of the entrance doors.
Channel 5 news states:
SPRINGFIELD, Va. – One key piece of evidence that prosecutors were hoping to send a Springfield man to jail for being naked in his home ended up being the crucial clue that swayed the jury to find him not guilty of indecent exposure.
Williamson says the photos convinced a jury that he had no idea that two women saw him drinking coffee naked in his kitchen that October morning.
One of those women was taking a shortcut with her daughter through Williamson’s yard when she says she made eye contact with the 29-year-old as he stood naked inside his house in front of his screen door.
Police introduced this photo saying her vantage point was about 25 feet away. But the defense says they proved she was actually 83 feet from his door.
Now Williamson says he wants people to realize how easy it is to be charged with a crime like this and how difficult it is to rebuild your life, even after a jury says you have done nothing wrong.
“It’s great to be not guilty but I still have a lot of wreckage to deal with. A lot of things that were torn apart because of what happened,” said Williamson.
By the time the jury found him not guilty, six months had passed and Williamson had been laid off, lost visitation rights with his young daughter and racked up $15,000 in legal bills.
The commercial diver and his lawyer say this case shows you are not always safe inside your own home. They want to draw attention to the “community caretaker exception” which lets police search a home or car without a warrant based on concerns for public safety or suspicion that a crime has or is about to happen.
Why can’t you be in the buff in your own house? Didn’t we read earlier that the peeking Thomasina was the wife of a Fairfax County policeman? This is just a horrible story. To quote Elena, it sounds more like a peeping Thomasina than a coffee drinking perv. Who says a man’s home is his castle? Are any of us safe?
Full Story at myfoxdc.com
I agree with Elena and MH on this… The guy didn’t do anything wrong and probably nothing that the majority of people do without even thinking about.
I’m very happy that the jury brought this one home. That it got past a Judge is amazing.
The community caretaker exception does need to be looked at. The idea that a broken window provides sufficient reason for the police to come into a persons home with guns drawn and arrest someone is disgusting.
According to the paper, it is even questionable that there was a break in the window pane.
Elena cracked me up over Peeping Thomasina.
Drinking coffee hardly equals satisfying oneself at the expense of passersby.
Just for that, I intend to vacuum in the nude.
Wait. I already do that.
And the woman was cutting through his yard? Isn’t that tresspassing?
Exactly Rick! She should have been arrested, not him!
Absolutly nut’s… this guy lost so much over a non-issue. I hope he’s able to counter sue that woman for every damn cent she’s got!
Finally we are all in agreement. Maybe it just took a naked coffee drinker and a Peeping Thomasina.
I’m interested in finding out more about this “community caretaker exception”. If PWC has had it for a couple decades, it must leave much to an officer’s discretion. Once I worked with an elderly woman who called me weekly to tell me where to report for my volunteer job. I was shopping one time when she called, but my Border Collie was sleeping on the sofa next to my answering machine when the phone rang. He must have freaked at the sudden sound and knocked the phone onto the floor and then started to sniff the receiver out of curiosity. The lady I worked with thought that I was on the line, having trouble braething or being attacked and she called the police. I came home, noticed the phone on the floor, and saw that I had a message – from the police. They wanted to know what happened. They had come by, had seen no forced entry and no car. I don’t think they initially believed that my dog was the culprit. So, could they have entered my house based on my dog’s heavy breathing?
Totally funny! However, if you had been lying there half dead, would you want them to enter?
Censored, that is hilarious!!!!!
Hilarious for sure. Now, about Pinko vaccuming in the nude. I dare — no, double dare — Moon to post a video of that!!!
I was once having an almost interactive blogging converation with a guy and made the mistake of telling him I was blogging wearing only my skivvies. He said that comment ruined his day. Go figure.
Not taking a double dare. Nope.
Wolverine, let’s see how to say this….when online, no one ever tells what they are wearing, want to be wearing, etc unless they want the conversation to ‘go somewhere.’ This is probably a chick statement…. but that is just the law of the jungle.
Moon — When you reach the exalted status of geezerdom, all eccentricities are sanctioned.
M-h, I wondered how they made their decision whether to enter or not. Only my kitchen, dining room, and front entry would have been visible from a window. I could have been dead on the living room floor. Maybe they assessed the caller’s description of the call. And I’m sure my aggressive dog met them at the door. They probably would have had to shoot him or tranquilize him if they didn’t have a free steak handy.
“Skivvies” Ha ha. I haven’t heard that term since my father died. He was a submariner. Is it navy slang?
@Wolverine
I am there. Geezerdom R Us.
I thought skivvies was just military in general.
Censored, did the cops actually come in or just give up that you weren’t dead?
Wolverine, no, they didn’t come in. The other volunteer knew that I had a car. Maybe they assumed I was not home. When I returned their call, they were somewhat accusatory as though it had been a prank. Coincidentally, I was going to call them about another issue when I got home and I started to mention that. I didn’t know what the heck they were talking about but put two and two together when I noticed the phone on the floor. The dog always slept on the sofa when we were away – he left telltale fur despite his innocent “who me?” look.
I’ll have to ask my ex-Air Force geezer husband if he called them skivvies too.