Alabama Teabagger Brian Downing Arrested In New Orleans
Your long national nightmare is over.
Teabagger Brian Downing, the Alabama fan who teabagged an LSU fan on the night of the BCS title game in a Bourbon Street Krystal, turned himself in to police last night. Downing, who OKTC initially reported was fired from his job at HIbbett Sports on Wednesday, traveled to New Orleans and was booked on charges of sexual battery and obscenity. As you'll see below, if Downing is convicted of sexual battery in Louisiana he faces years in prison.
Of course the New Orleans police couldn't book him without a photograph of a handcuffed Downing being escorted in to the police station. As you can see from the teabagger perp walk, Downing has since shaved his beard -- probably in hopes that it would keep him from being recognized -- but wore his finest UnderArmour dri-fit for the booking.
Surrendering to police capped off what has to be the worst week of Downing's life. That week of disaster began on Sunday morning when OKTC first posted video of Downing teabagging a passed out LSU fan in the Bourbon Street Krystal.
Since that posting the story has exploded across the South and even been featured in international news coverage.
Yesterday a man claiming to be the LSU fan victim called in to Paul Finebaum's radio show and said, "I was wanting to go to Krystals to get a sack full."
Downing's attorneys will likely attempt to reach a plea agreement and avoid the statutory mininum under the Louisiana sexual assault statute, 25 years behind bars. That's because the passed out victim here was clearly incapacitated.
Here's that sexual battery statute:
§43.1. Sexual battery
A. Sexual battery is the intentional touching of the anus or genitals of the victim by the offender using any instrumentality or any part of the body of the offender, or the touching of the anus or genitals of the offender by the victim using any instrumentality or any part of the body of the victim, when any of the following occur:
(1) The offender acts without the consent of the victim.
(2) The act is consensual but the other person, who is not the spouse of the offender, has not yet attained fifteen years of age and is at least three years younger than the offender.
(3) The offender is seventeen years of age or older and any of the following exist:
(a) The act is without consent of the victim, and the victim is prevented from resisting the act because either of the following conditions exist:
(i) The victim has paraplegia, quadriplegia, or is otherwise physically incapable of preventing the act due to a physical disability.
(ii) The victim is incapable, through unsoundness of mind, of understanding the nature of the act, and the offender knew or should have known of the victim's incapacity.
(b) The act is without consent of the victim, and the victim is sixty-five years of age or older.
B. Lack of knowledge of the victim's age shall not be a defense. However, normal medical treatment or normal sanitary care shall not be construed as an offense under the provisions of this Section.
C.(1) Whoever commits the crime of sexual battery shall be punished by imprisonment, with or without hard labor, without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence, for not more than ten years.
(2) Whoever commits the crime of sexual battery on a victim under the age of thirteen years when the offender is seventeen years of age or older shall be punished by imprisonment at hard labor for not less than twenty-five years nor more than ninety-nine years. At least twenty-five years of the sentence imposed shall be served without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence.
(3) Whoever commits the crime of sexual battery by violating the provisions of Paragraph (A)(3) of this Section shall be imprisoned at hard labor for not less than twenty-five years nor more than ninety-nine years. At least twenty-five years of the sentence imposed shall be served without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence.
(4) Upon completion of the term of imprisonment imposed in accordance with Paragraphs (2) and (3) of this Subsection, the offender shall be monitored by the Department of Public Safety and Corrections through the use of electronic monitoring equipment for the remainder of his natural life.
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I don't care who you are, multiple years in jail for this is insane, right?
But that's what the teabagger faces if prosecutors really want to make an example of him.
Clearly we have prong one covered in the sexual assault -- there was no consent. But are there aggravating factors present under prong three?
Here's a law school exam question for you, does passed out drunk qualify as "unsoundness of mind" in the sexual battery statute above? If if does this turns in to a minimum 25 year sentence. Otherwise it's "just" a ten year sentence.
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So I ask again, would you really send this guy to jail for multiple years if you were on a jury?
No way I would.
This thing has to be plead down.
And soon.
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Here's OKTC's Teabagger stories.