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DISCLAIMER: Please note that every case is different and these verdicts and settlements, while accurate, do not represent what we may obtain for you in your case.

Wounding Charge Dismissed Against Richmonder for Using Pepper Spray

A thirty-something Richmond mother of two appeared in Richmond General District Court yesterday for her preliminary hearing on charges of using a caustic substance to assault her daughter's paramour, but the Commonwealth withdrew the charge before putting on evidence.

The case arose last summer when the accused went to her daughter's apartment to help her move out and away from her boyfriend. The pair had been living together for several months, albeit their relationship was marked by physical and verbal abuse.

Anticipating a physical confrontation with the boyfriend before entering the apartment, the accused called 911 to request police assistance, and asked the operator if it were legal to use pepper spray if she were attacked by the boyfriend. She was told "only in self-defense."

Upon entering the apartment, the boyfriend verbally accosted the mother and daughter, and when he moved toward them, the accused warned him she had pepper spray and would use it. Undeterred, he came forward and was rewarded with a short burst of the substance moments before police officers arrived.

The female police officer on the scene charged the mother under Code section 18.2-52, which prohibits using "acid, lye or any caustic substance" to cause bodily injury to another. Upon conviction, the accused can be sentenced to a prison term of from 5 to 20 years.

In negotiations with the Commonwealth's Attorney prior to the preliminary hearing, the defense made known that it intended to present evidence at trial to prove that the accused was defending herself from a person who had physically and verbally threatened her in the past, and who appeared to third parties present to be either intoxicated or high -- or both -- and whose employment background as a bouncer at local strip clubs was replete with instances in which he had displayed an aggressive manner and quick temper in dealing with patrons.

After considering these factors,  the evidence in the case, and the accused's prior clean record, the Commonwealth's Attorney declined to prosecute the case, and the charges were dismissed.

Mr. Stelly regularly appears in the courts of the City of Richmond, Henrico County, Chesterfield County, Goochland County, and Hanover County.

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