Felony assault charges on police in Virginia are often dropped

People who are charged for assault and battery on a police officer, a crime that carries up to five years in prison, often have those charges dropped or reduced, reports the Times-Dispatch .

Why it matters: Sometimes they spend weeks or months in jail before a judge dismisses the charge, even when the same charge on a non-officer wouldn't require jail time ahead of the trial.

The big picture: In Virginia, assaulting an officer is a felony that has a mandatory minimum sentence of six months.

• The law doesn't require an officer to be physically touched for it to be considered assault, or for an officer to be injured for battery.

Between the lines: Incidents where officers respond to mental health crises regularly lead to felony assault charges, per the RTD.

• This year, Virginia lawmakers passed bills that would have created a defense against conviction for people with mental illnesses or a neurodevelopmental disability like autism.
• Gov. Youngkin vetoed the legislation, saying it would add a burden to the court system and remove protections for law enforcement.

Zoom in: An RTD analysis of thousands of online court records from last year found that a judge dropped more than half (55%) of the 3,894 cases involving a felony assault of an officer.

• 22% were convicted on a lesser charge.
• Roughly 13% resulted in a judge finding a person guilty.

What they're saying: "A judge or jury should make the decision to take away someone's liberty," Rob Poggenklass, executive director of the advocacy group Justice Forward Virginia, told RTD. "Not a law enforcement officer."

Plus, it took an average of over eight months between arrest and a court decision.

• Those found guilty of a felony charge averaged nearly $6,000 in court costs.
• Court costs for lesser charges averaged about $500.