Are law enforcement agencies exempt from the law on seat belts?

No.

“Each driver of a passenger car, van, sports utility vehicle, or truck having a gross weight of ten thousand pounds or less, commonly referred to as a pickup truck, in this state shall have a safety belt properly fastened about his or her body at all times when the vehicle is in forward motion,” reads R.S. 32:295.1.

The law exempts rural mail carriers, certain farm vehicles, meter readers, newspaper delivery people, and drivers whose physical or mental disabilities “prevent appropriate restraint in the safety belt.” And it doesn’t apply to vehicles made before Jan. 1, 1981.

But the statute contains no exception for law enforcement officials. State police Sgt. James Anderson said that “several first responders in our state have been injured or killed after being involved in a crash without a seat belt on.”

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Online: www.legis.la.gov; www.lahighwaysafety.org.

Trial for attorney scheduled for Oct. 20

I remember that Lake Charles attorney Jonathan Johnson was arrested for rape in 2011. Was it ever brought to trial? What was the outcome?

Johnson, charged with simple rape in December 2011, was indicted in June 2013 on a charge of forcible rape.

He is scheduled to stand trial Oct. 20 before Judge Sharon Wilson, said Laura Gerdes Colligan, spokeswoman for the state Attorney General’s Office, which took up the case after the Calcasieu District Attorney’s Office recused itself.

State police said Johnson drugged a woman he met at a bar, took her to his home and had sex with her on Oct. 30, 2011. The woman contacted authorities 10 days later.

The penalty for forcible rape is five to 40 years in prison, with at least two of those years being without parole.

VA covers dental care for certain veterans

I saw in the paper the other day that a veteran had a dental appointment that the VA hadn’t paid for yet. I didn’t know that the VA paid for that type of service. If they do, how do you apply for that?

Among those to whom the Department of Veterans Affairs offers outpatient dental benefits:

Veterans with “a service-connected compensable dental disability or condition.”

Former prisoners of war.

Certain people rated 100 percent disabled.

Veterans with “a service-connected noncompensable dental condition or disability resulting from combat wounds or service trauma.”

Veterans with “a dental condition clinically determined by VA to be associated with and aggravating a service-connected medical condition.”

Veterans enrolled in certain vocational rehabilitation programs.

Veterans who “are receiving VA care or are scheduled for inpatient care and require dental care for a condition complicating a medical condition currently under treatment.”

For more information on VA benefits, call 800-827-1000.

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Online: http://va.gov.

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The Informer answers questions from readers each Sunday, Monday and Wednesday. It is researched and written by Andrew Perzo, an American Press staff writer. To ask a question, call 494-4098 and leave voice mail, or email informer@americanpress.com.(MGNonline)