 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
ANDERSON v. STATE3/11/1998
Burnie Anderson appeals her conviction for disorderly conduct by uttering fighting words in violation of OCGA § 16-11-39 (a) (3). After her son was arrested for DUI, Mrs. Anderson went to the jail to post bond. She asked the deputies to take her personal check because she was a friend of the sheriff, but her request was denied. At this point Anderson left the jail after letting the jailers know that in her opinion their prospects for continued employment after the next election were not favorable. The next morning, Anderson sent her son's girlfriend to the jail with the full cash bond, but a deputy told her that Anderson's son would not be released until she talked to the sheriff.
After inquiring from the sheriff's wife as to his whereabouts, Mrs. Anderson found him at an automobile dealership, washing his car. Because of where Anderson was sitting in relation to the sheriff, she had to lean across and speak to the sheriff through the car's open window. When Mrs. Anderson asked about the refusal to release her son, the sheriff asked her why she had been at the jail causing trouble. The sheriff then testified that Anderson "told me they was no good and that I was a no good son of a bitch and that she should get out of the car and kick my ass. . . . I told her if she had to talk that way, she could leave `if you don't leave, I'm going to call and have you removed,' and she said `Well, go ahead.' So . . . I just went back
to washing my car because I felt it wasn't even worth the trouble. . . . She sat there a few minutes and . . . finally said, `Well, I'll see you on down the road,' and she drove off."
When asked whether Mrs. Anderson's demeanor showed she was angry, the sheriff testified: "I really didn't pay her that much attention." On cross-examination, the sheriff said he was offended and disappointed by Anderson's above quoted language and that he took seriously her threat.
Anderson testified that without leaving her car, she questioned the sheriff about the failure to release her son. According to Anderson, the sheriff said: "`If you hadn't of been up there running your god damn mouth, he would have been out . . . . And if you don't get your god damn ass from up here, I will call somebody . . . and have you locked up with your god damn son.'" Anderson left. Later that day the Sheriff got a warrant against her.
Anderson was indicted as follows: that she committed "the offense of terroristic threats"; and that on May 14, 1995 she used "to Sheriff John Bowens, the following opprobrious words and abusive language, to-wit: that he was a no good son-of-a-bitch and she would kick his ass." Although the jury acquitted her of making terroristic threats, Anderson was convicted of using obscene and abusive language.
On appeal Anderson contends this prosecution infringes on her First Amendment rights and also contends the trial court erred by denying her motion for a directed verdict of acquittal and failing to charge the jury that the scope of OCGA § 16-11-39 was limited to words that had a direct tendency to cause immediate breach of the peace and that the jury must consider the context in which the words were uttered when determining whether the words were fighting words. Held:
1. Anderson's motion to dismiss the indictment was based on her contention that the phrases "no good son of a bitch" and "I'll kick your ass" are protected speech under the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of Georgia. OCGA § 16-11-39 in relevant part provides: "A person commits the offense of disorderly conduct when such person. . . ithout provocation, uses to or of another person in such other person's presence, opprobri
Page 1 2 3 4 Georgia DUI Attorneys
DUI Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|