The Oregon legislature has criminalized spitting on a police officer, regardless of whether the saliva comes in direct contact with the officer’s skin, the Oregon Court of Appeals ruled, finding the statutory definition of “physical contact” includes contact with clothing.
In an April 12 opinion, Judge Darleen Ortega affirmed a lower court’s conviction defendant Connor Harrison Snodgrass for aggravated assault, determining that the legislature intended to criminalize spitting on a police officer, regardless of where the saliva contacted with the officer.
