Don't Spit In Texas

Another man who assaulted a cop gets a tought prison sentence, 35 years, in Texas.

DALLAS (AP) -- An HIV-positive man convicted of spitting into the eye and mouth of a Dallas police officer has been sentenced to 35 years in prison.

Because a jury found that Willie Campbell used his saliva as a deadly weapon, the 42-year-old will have to serve half his sentence before becoming eligible for parole.

He was sentenced Wednesday. Campbell was being arrested in May 2006 for public intoxication when he began resisting and kicking inside the patrol car, Dallas police office Dan Waller testified.

Campbell was convicted of harassment of a public servant.

This is the operative section of the Texas Penal Code that booted this mope through the goal posts.

§ 22.11. HARASSMENT BY PERSONS IN CERTAIN CORRECTIONAL FACILITIES; HARASSMENT OF PUBLIC SERVANT.

(a) A person commits an offense if, with the intent to assault, harass, or alarm, the person: (1) while imprisoned or confined in a correctional or detention facility, causes another person to contact the blood, seminal fluid, vaginal fluid, saliva, urine, or feces of the actor, any other person, or an animal; or (2) causes another person the actor knows to be a public servant to contact the blood, seminal fluid, vaginal fluid, saliva, urine, or feces of the actor, any other person, or an animal while the public servant is lawfully discharging an official duty or in retaliation or on account of an exercise of the public servant's official power or performance of an official duty.

(b) An offense under this section is a felony of the third degree.

(c) If conduct constituting an offense under this section also constitutes an offense under another section of this code, the actor may be prosecuted under either section.

(d) In this section, "correctional or detention facility" means: (1) a secure correctional facility; or (2) a "secure correctional facility" or a "secure detention facility" as defined by Section 51.02, Family Code, operated by or under contract with a juvenile board or the Texas Youth Commission or any other facility operated by or under contract with that commission.

(e) For purposes of Subsection (a)(2), the actor is presumed to have known the person was a public servant if the person was wearing a distinctive uniform or badge indicating the person's employment as a public servant.

I've seen guys in New York get sentenced to less time for killing a cop. A felony in the third degree is not the highest offense in Texas.

Texas Criminal Penalties:
A Class C misdemeanor is punishable by a fine not to exceed $500.
A Class B misdemeanor is punishable by a fine not to exceed $2000; confinement in jail for a term not to exceed 180 days; or both fine and confinement.
A Class A misdemeanor is punishable by a fine not to exceed $4000; confinement in jail for a term not to exceed one year; or both fine and confinement.

A state jail felony is punishable by confinement in a state jail for any term of not more than 2 years or less than 180 days and by a fine not to exceed $10,000.

A 3rd degree felony is punishable by imprisonment for any term of not more than 10 years or less than 2 years and a fine not to exceed $10,000.
A 2nd degree felony is punishable by imprisonment for any term of not more than 20 years of less than 2 years and a fine not to exceed $10,000.
A 1st degree felony is punishable by imprisonment for life or for any term of not more than 99 years or less than 5 years and a fine not to exceed $10,000.