Turner v. Commonwealth

The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant’s conviction for displaying a noose on a public place with the intent to intimidate and placing others in reasonable fear of death or personal injury, in violation of Va. Code 18.2-423.2, holding that, although the noose was located on Defendant’s own property, the noose display was on a public place under this court’s construction of the statute.Affirming Defendant’s conviction, the court of appeals rejected Defendant’s contention that privately owned property cannot constitute a public place for purposes of section 18.2-423.2(B) and that Defendant's noose display was therefore outside ether scope of this provision. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the obvious and rational meaning of the term “public place” as used in the statute includes private property generally visible by the public from some other location, which was the case with the site of Defendant’s noose display in his front yard. View "Turner v. Commonwealth" on Justia Law