Posted October 29, 2015
William Merideth, the man from Kentucky who shot down a drone earlier this year, was cleared of all charges by a Kentucky judge, according to an Engadget article available here. Ars Technica also published an article available here.
Merideth told WDRB that he felt vindicated after a district judge dismissed the charges against him, even if the accuser can still take the case before a grand jury. He was originally charged for firing his gun within city limits, but the judge concluded that the drone invaded his privacy, after two witnesses testified that the UAV flew below the tree line of Merideth’s property.
However, the Phantom 3 drone’s owner and pilot, David Boggs, provided Ars Technica with a videoshowing that his machine was flying 200 feet above the ground. Boggs said that the judge did not look at the video.
The exact height of the drone may determine whether Merideth’s actions were justified. The closest case law on the issue is from 1946, according to Ars Technica.
That year, the Supreme Court decided in a case known as United States v. Causby that a farmer in North Carolina could assert property rights up to 83 feet in the air. In that case, American military aircraft were flying above his farm, disturbing his sleep and his chickens, and the court determined he had a right to compensation.
However, the same decision also specifically mentioned a “minimum safe altitude of flight” at 500 feet, leaving the zone between 83 and 500 feet as a legal gray area.
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