Defenses to Shining a Light at a Helicopter Operator
Believe it or not, it's a crime to shine a light on a helicopter operator under California Penal Code Section 248. This is obvious because you don't want helicopters falling out of the sky. If you're charged with shining some light or bright object at an aircraft and need some help, call me, and we can sit down and talk about it.
One of the main things the prosecutor will need to prove to prove this crime is that you intended to impair the operator. In other words, you were trying to blind them somehow so they couldn't properly operate the helicopter. Why somebody would do this is beyond me.
I think people do stupid things. Maybe it's a joke, but this is a serious crime. You need a reasonable defense attorney to represent you if you're charged with it.
One defense would be that you didn't do it intentionally. In other words, if somehow you had a light and it accidentally went into the eyes of the helicopter operator, this could be a defense if you did not intend to do it.
This is a crucial element. That means this is akin to a specific intent crime, meaning that you must intend to impair the helicopter operator.
Then the question becomes, how will they prove what's inside your mind? They're probably going to have to do that if you don't admit it, either to a witness or to the police when they talk to you about it, by the surrounding circumstances of whatever happened.
For example, if somebody has a considerable light – maybe one of those lights that you use to promote a business – and they're trying to shine that light and following the helicopter around with the light – you could infer from the facts and circumstances of that situation that the person was intentionally trying to blind the helicopter operator.
On the other hand, if you have the light up there and you had a legitimate purpose for having the light up there, then the helicopter operator just happened to fly into the zone where the light was. The light wasn't being moved or tracked around where the helicopter operator was, so obviously, that would not be an intentional crime. You would not be able to be prosecuted for Penal Code Section 248.
Reviewing Your Case For Best Outcome
If you are charged with any violation involving Penal Code Section 248, you need to get in front of an attorney. Could you give him all the facts and details of your case so they can begin getting a defense together for you?
Not all defenses require that the person have a jury trial and let a jury decide whether they are innocent or guilty. Sometimes, the defense is strategically trying to work out a resolution with the prosecutors.
Maybe you did something wrong – you weren't supposed to – but you didn't intend to hurt anyone; in that case, you want to get a criminal defense attorney.
What I have you do is come and sit down with me. We'll go over everything in the privacy of my office. I would appreciate it if you could give me the information honestly without putting any spin on it, and we go through things step-by-step.
Then, that gives me the ammunition I need to provide your version of events to the police, prosecutor, and judge because a lot of times, the police and even the prosecutors will jump to conclusions about what happened—assume you're guilty, take the worst about you—without having all the facts and details at their fingertips.
So, it's your criminal defense attorney's job to obtain those details from you and present them to the prosecutor and judge so that they understand your side of things.
Also, we get mitigation letters, and I send the letter to the boss of the prosecutors before I meet with them, laying out all of the things from the defense standpoint, for example, if you have a job, if you've otherwise led a law-abiding life, then that puts you in a good position to attempt to avoid any profound conviction, any jail time, and get things set up so that eventually you can get this matter dismissed and move on with your life and pursue your career.
