5 hours ago, theguru said:

Thanks for that.  The citation says Assault, 2nd Degree - Police Officer.  So I am too long in the tooth to know why it is charged that way when the actual statue doesn't include the part about a Police Officer but I assume it means the criminal elements rise above Assault in the 3rd Degree which is the original charge used in cases like this and I also assume that means Assault 3rd is a lesser, included offense.  I need someone smarter than me to sort this out for us but for measure here is the Assault 3rd KRS:

508.025 Assault in the third degree.
(1) A person is guilty of assault in the third degree when the actor:
(a) Recklessly, with a deadly weapon or dangerous instrument, or intentionally
causes or attempts to cause physical injury to:
1. A state, county, city, or federal peace officer;
2. An employee of a detention facility, or state residential treatment facility
or state staff secure facility for residential treatment which provides for
the care, treatment, or detention of a juvenile charged with or
adjudicated delinquent because of a public offense or as a youthful
offender;
3. A healthcare provider as defined in KRS 311.821, if the event occurs
while the healthcare provider is providing medical care in an emergency
room of a hospital;
4. An employee of the Department for Community Based Services
employed as a social worker to provide direct client services, if the
event occurs while the worker is performing job-related duties;
5. Paid or volunteer emergency medical services personnel certified or
licensed pursuant to KRS Chapter 311A, if the event occurs while
personnel are performing job-related duties;
6. A paid or volunteer member of an organized fire department, if the
event occurs while the member is performing job-related duties;
7. Paid or volunteer rescue squad personnel affiliated with the Division of
Emergency Management of the Department of Military Affairs or a
local disaster and emergency services organization pursuant to KRS
Chapter 39F, if the event occurs while personnel are performing jobrelated duties;
8. A probation and parole officer;
9. A transportation officer appointed... [redacted]
10. A public or private elementary or secondary school or school district
classified or certified employee, school bus driver, or other school
employee acting in the course and scope of the employee's employment;
or
11. A public or private elementary or secondary school or school district
volunteer acting in the course and scope of that person's volunteer
service for the school or school district;
(b) Being a person confined in a detention facility, or a juvenile in a state
residential treatment facility or state staff secure facility for residential
treatment which provides for the care, treatment, or detention of a juvenile
charged with or adjudicated delinquent because of a public offense or as a
youthful offender, inflicts physical injury upon or throws or causes feces, or
urine, or other bodily fluid to be thrown upon an employee of the facility; or
(c) Intentionally causes a person, whom the actor knows or reasonably should
know to be a peace officer discharging official duties, to come into contact
with saliva, vomit, mucus, blood, seminal fluid, urine, or feces without the
consent of the peace officer.
(2) (a) For a violation of subsection (1)(a) of this section, assault in the third degree
is a Class D felony, unless the offense occurs during a declared emergency as
defined by KRS 39A.020 arising from a natural or man-made disaster, within
the area covered by the emergency declaration, and within the area impacted
by the disaster, in which case it is a Class C felony.
(b) For a violation of subsection (1)(b) of this section, assault in the third degree
is a Class D felony.
(c) For violations of subsection (1)(c) of this section, assault in the third degree is
a Class B misdemeanor, unless the assault is with saliva, vomit, mucus, blood,
seminal fluid, urine, or feces from an adult who knows that he or she has a
serious communicable disease and competent medical or epidemiological
evidence demonstrates that the specific type of contact caused by the actor is
likely to cause transmission of the disease or condition, in which case it is a
Class A misdemeanor.
(d) As used in paragraph (c) of this subsection, "serious communicable disease"
means a non-airborne disease that is transmitted from person to person and
determined to have significant, long-term consequences on the physical health
or life activities of the person infected.
Effective: June 29, 2023
History: Amended 2023 Ky. Acts ch. 109, sec. 4, effective June 29, 2023. -- Amended
2022 Ky. Acts ch. 151, sec. 2, effective July 14, 2022. -- Amended 2018 Ky. Acts
ch. 189, sec. 1, effective July 14, 2018. -- Amended 2005 Ky. Acts ch. 128, sec. 1,
effective June 20, 2005. -- Amended 2002 Ky. Acts ch. 208, sec. 1, effective July 15,
2002; and ch. 360, sec. 1, effective July 15, 2002. -- Amended 2000 Ky. Acts ch. 14,
sec. 56, effective July 14, 2000; ch. 193, sec. 17, effective July 14, 2000; and ch.
345, sec. 7, effective July 14, 2000. -- Amended 1996 Ky. Acts ch. 345, sec. 1,
effective July 15, 1996. -- Amended 1994 Ky. Acts ch. 397, sec. 1, effective July 15,
1994. -- Amended 1990 Ky. Acts ch. 380, sec. 1, effective July 13, 1990. -- Created
1982 Ky. Acts ch. 429, sec. 1, effective July 15, 1982.
Legislative Research Commission Note (6/20/2005). 2005 Ky. Acts ch. 128, sec. 1,
which included an amendment to this statute, provides that the Act shall be known as
the "Brenda D. Cowan Act."

I see zero chance either of those assault charges stick. I haven't heard any report of what happened where it sounds like Scheffler intentionally tried to cause harm.

Defense attorney said drop the charges or go to trial, they aren’t taking a plea.

7 minutes ago, Voice of Reason said:

I see zero chance either of those assault charges stick. I haven't heard any report of what happened where it sounds like Scheffler intentionally tried to cause harm.

That is why I added Assault 3rd, the mental state there is recklessly.  Here it is again:

508.025 Assault in the third degree.
(1) A person is guilty of assault in the third degree when the actor:
(a) Recklessly, with a deadly weapon or dangerous instrument, or intentionally
causes or attempts to cause physical injury to:
1. A state, county, city, or federal peace officer;

1 minute ago, TheDeuce said:

Defense attorney said drop the charges or go to trial, they aren’t taking a plea.

Under any normal circumstance when that happens the prosecution digs in. 

And with an injured police officer, dropping the charges says to every police officer in America, get out of the profession.

2 minutes ago, theguru said:

That is why I added Assault 3rd, the mental state there is recklessly.  Here it is again:

508.025 Assault in the third degree.
(1) A person is guilty of assault in the third degree when the actor:
(a) Recklessly, with a deadly weapon or dangerous instrument, or intentionally
causes or attempts to cause physical injury to:
1. A state, county, city, or federal peace officer;

I guess there is a chance on that, but it as slim as slim can get.

Just now, Voice of Reason said:

I guess there is a chance on that, but it as slim as slim can get.

Not in my experience, not at all, but that was a long time ago and in a different county. 

3 minutes ago, theguru said:

Not in my experience, not at all, but that was a long time ago and in a different county. 

If the report is true another officer directed Scheffler across the median, reckless flew out the door.

6 minutes ago, Voice of Reason said:

If the report is true another officer directed Scheffler across the median, reckless flew out the door.

The fact that another officer may or may not have directed Scheffler to do something prior to his contact with the arresting officer has nothing to do with the charge or the mental state.  Think of it as chapters in a book, even if another officer directed him to the location where the arresting officer stopped him, that was the previous chapter.

The recklessness would come in assuming Scheffler did not comply with the arresting officers order to stop and as a result of Scheffler not stopping/continuing on, the officer was hurt.  That would be the basis for the charge. 

6 minutes ago, theguru said:

The fact that another officer may or may not have directed Scheffler to do something prior to his contact with the arresting officer has nothing to do with the charge or the mental state.  Think of it as chapters in a book, even if another officer directed him to the location where the arresting officer stopped him, that was the previous chapter.

The recklessness would come in assuming Scheffler did not comply with the arresting officers order to stop and as a result of Scheffler not stopping/continuing on, the officer was hurt.  That would be the basis for the charge. 

Sketchy to prove IMO.

Another fact. Scheffler's car was clearly marked as a player's car. The officer should have known and recognized that. He should have known this wasn't some random person trying to avoid traffic.

1 minute ago, Voice of Reason said:

Sketchy to prove IMO.

Another fact. Scheffler's car was clearly marked as a player's car. The officer should have known and recognized that. He should have known this wasn't some random person trying to avoid traffic.

I think you are way over complicating it, either Scheffler complied with the officer or he did not comply.

And nothing on a car (not any kind of get out of jail free card) gives anyone permission to violate the law. 

28 minutes ago, theguru said:

Under any normal circumstance when that happens the prosecution digs in. 

And with an injured police officer, dropping the charges says to every police officer in America, get out of the profession.

They’ll lose in court. I’m sure they know that. 

Just now, TheDeuce said:

They’ll lose in court. I’m sure they know that. 

Probably, but that doesn't mean you give up. 

10 minutes ago, theguru said:

I think you are way over complicating it, either Scheffler complied with the officer or he did not comply.

And nothing on a car (not any kind of get out of jail free card) gives anyone permission to violate the law. 

Which officer should he comply with? The one that says go or the one that says stop?

6 hours ago, theguru said:

I have no idea on this one but I sure hope the officer that stopped/was injured/and charged Scheffler, was wearing a body cam.  And if he was, I hope that gets released right away.  If he wasn't, ugh. 

With all that said, I have no idea what the LMPD policy is on body cams but I can see where a detective working a traffic detail where all hands have to be on deck may not be required to wear a body cam. 

At this point I'd say there's no sense in speculation. We've seen both sides, police and golfers (both are human) screw up. I doubt that either side intended to make headlines today before the 2nd round started. I'd say let's hope both sides, recover OK from it.

With that said, I can see a detective not having a body camera for this although I'm sure others likely did. A detective having a body cam at all times, like an officer on patrol isn't the norm or necessary in my opinion. Reason being is because detectives aren't usually responding to or initiating activity that requires them, if they expect a police action is likely or even possible, then they usually have one. However, an incident like this does show why you should/could need one while working a detail, even if it's as simple as a traffic detail.

With all of that said. You could have a large debate as to when law enforcement should or shouldn't have a body camera and when it should or shouldn't be activated etc.