EDWIN CHEEK v. UNITED STATES , 103 A.3d 1019 ( 2014 )

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No. 12-CM-1213
EDWIN CHEEK, APPELLANT,
v.
UNITED STATES, APPELLEE.
Appeal from the Superior Court of the
District of Columbia
(CMD-6663-12)
(Hon. Yvonne Williams, Trial Judge)
(Submitted January 8, 2014 Decided November 20, 2014)
James E. Drew was on the brief for appellant.
Ronald C. Machen Jr., United States Attorney, and Anne Park, Elizabeth
Trosman, Chrisellen R. Kolb and Benjamin Brooks, Assistant United States
Attorneys, were on the brief for appellee.
Before THOMPSON and EASTERLY, Associate Judges, and NEBEKER,* Senior
Judge.
NEBEKER, Senior Judge: The trial court found appellant Edwin Cheek guilty
of one count of misdemeanor assault on a police officer (“APO”), in violation of
D.C. Code § 22-405 (b) (2012 Repl.). Appellant appeals his APO conviction on
*
Senior Judge Schwelb recused from this appeal, after it was submitted; due
to illness, he passed on August 13, 2014, and was replaced by Senior Judge
Nebeker.
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the grounds that the government failed to set forth sufficient evidence to support
the conviction and that his speech was protected by the First Amendment. For the
reasons stated below, we affirm.
I.
On April 16, 2012, Metropolitan Police Officers Blier and Jones were
patrolling in a marked police vehicle in the 1100 block of Mt. Olivet Road, N.E.,
when they observed two girls who appeared to be fighting in the street with a
“large, disorderly crowd of 20-30 people in the middle of the street watching.” As
the officers approached, one of the girls attempted to run and Officer Blier placed
her in handcuffs and began questioning her when a woman whom the officer knew
to be mentally ill approached him and began yelling. Officer Blier told the woman
to get off the street so she wouldn’t get hit by a car, and she walked away.
Appellant then approached the officer, yelling at him, cursing, and staggering,
upset over how the officer had treated the woman. He “appeared to be extremely
intoxicated” and did not heed Officer Blier’s repeated orders to back up, moving
away only when another citizen led him away from the scene.
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Several minutes later appellant returned to the scene where Officer Blier was
questioning the girl he had arrested. He approached the officer, screaming and
cursing, and again he repeatedly ignored Officer Blier’s orders to back up.
Margaret Williams, a neighborhood resident, witnessed appellant asking the officer
why he had slammed the girl down to the ground, and thereafter the officer
arrested appellant for interfering with the investigation.
Following a bench trial on July 19, 2012, the trial court found appellant
guilty of assault on a police officer (“APO”) in violation of D.C. Code § 22-405 (b)
(2012 Repl.) for “interfering” with Officer Blier’s investigation of the fight.
Appellant was sentenced to 180 days of incarceration, with execution suspended to
supervised probation for one year and a $50 assessment. On July 23, 2012,
appellant filed a timely notice of appeal.
II.
Appellant argues that the evidence was insufficient to support his APO
conviction. We view the evidence in the light most favorable to the government,
and will reverse a conviction for insufficient evidence only where the government
has failed to present evidence from which a reasonable mind might fairly infer
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guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. See, e.g., Smith v. United States, 837 A.2d 87,
91-97 (D.C. 2003). The APO statute states,
Whoever without justifiable and excusable cause,
assaults, resists, opposes, impedes, intimidates, or
interferes with a law enforcement officer on account of,
or while that law enforcement officer is engaged in the
performance of his or her official duties shall be guilty of
a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be imprisoned
not more than 180 days or fined not more than the
amount set forth in § 22-3571.01, or both.
D.C. Code § 22-405 (b) (2012 Repl.).
We have held that to violate the APO statute, the conduct “must go beyond
speech and mere passive resistance or avoidance, and cross the line into active
confrontation, obstruction or other action directed against an officer’s performance
in the line of duty.” In re C.L.D., 739 A.2d 353, 356-57 (D.C. 1999). Whether
conduct meets the “active and oppositional” standard requires “an intensely factual
analysis.” In re C.L.D., 739 A.2d at 357. To establish the general intent necessary
for an APO violation, the government need only show that appellant “inten[ded] to
commit the proscribed act.” Fogle v. United States, 336 A.2d 833, 835 (D.C.
1975) (citation omitted). We are mindful that the statute “plainly seeks to
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deescalate the potential for violence which exists whenever a police officer
encounters an individual in the line of duty.” In re C.L.D., 739 A.2d at 355.
Here, appellant approached Officer Blier as he was speaking with an arrestee
and conducting an investigation of a violent fight. Appellant appeared “extremely”
intoxicated as he approached the officer from behind, yelling and cursing. He was
within ten feet of the officer and repeatedly disregarded his orders to back up.
Appellant’s conduct was sufficiently disruptive, that appellant was eventually led
away by a fellow citizen bystander. Nevertheless, appellant angrily returned to the
already “contentious” scene and repeated the conduct. There was “so much going
on” and “so much noise” that with only two officers present to control the “large
disorderly crowd” of “20 to 30 people,” Officer Blier “had to have [his] head on
swivel to observe every direction to make sure no one approached [him] or came
up and tried to start an altercation.” The crowd was angry and aggressive, and
when appellant returned to the scene, the officer feared that appellant was
“adamant about doing something.” Officer Blier felt “threatened” and
“distracted,” and was concerned for his safety, that of his partner, and the girl he
had in handcuffs. His ability to ensure their safety and conduct an investigation of
the fight was severely impeded by appellant’s repeated conduct.
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Appellant’s conduct crossed the line from passive to “active and
oppositional” conduct, which we have found sufficient to constitute an APO
violation. This case, therefore, is distinguishable from those involving passive
conduct where defendants have failed to follow police orders through inaction or
by trying to remove themselves from a situation. See In re C.L.D., 739 A.2d at
357-58; Howard v. United States, 966 A.2d 854, 856 (D.C. 2009). In In re C.L.D.,
for example, we found that the behavior at issue was passive where the defendant
was a high school student found outside the school after classes had begun, and he
“refused to identify himself” to a police officer and “started to walk away” after
the officer directed him to remain. In re C.L.D., 739 A.2d at 354. We also held
that the defendant’s behavior in Howard v. United States was similarly passive
where she “failed to take her hands out of her pockets despite a lawful order to do
so” by police. Howard, 966 A.2d at 856-57. Unlike in these cases, appellant’s
conduct was active and oppositional as he repeatedly and aggressively came at
Officer Blier from behind in the midst of an angry mob, despite repeated orders not
to do so, as the officer attempted to conduct an investigation and protect himself
and those around him.
III.
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Appellant raises a First Amendment claim for the first time on appeal,
alleging that the APO conviction violated his First Amendment right of free
speech. Appellant, however, was not arrested and charged for his speech but rather
his conduct which went beyond yelling, cursing, and questioning, crossing the line
from speech into active confrontation that interfered with the officer’s
investigation. Therefore, the trial court’s failure to consider, sua sponte, a First
Amendment claim was not plain error. See United States v. Olano, 507 U.S. 725,
732 (1993)).
Appellant also notes that he was “attempting to question . . . [the] police
officer[ ] about his treatment of a young girl,” perhaps implying that his conduct
falls under the statutory exception of “justifiable and excusable cause” embodied in
D.C. Code § 22-405 (b) (2012 Repl.). Appellant, however, makes no such
argument and the exception is unavailing in any event. Officer Blier was dealing
with a hostile crowd and a staggering drunken intervener who approached him
from his rear with additional cacophony. Furthermore, this statutory exception has
generally been associated with using “self-defense against a police officer who is
using excessive force in carrying out official duties.” Nelson v. United States, 580
A.2d 114, 117 (D.C. 1990); See, e.g., Henson v. United States, 55 A.3d 859, 869
(D.C. 2012); Tyson v. United States, 30 A.3d 804, 807 (D.C. 2011). Appellant
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does not raise any issue of self-defense, but rather seems to imply that he was
acting in defense of others through trial witness Margaret Williams who testified
that the officer “slammed one of the[ ] young ladies down real hard,” and appellant
questioned the officer about this conduct. We have not addressed whether defense
of others is sufficient to satisfy the APO “justifiable and excusable cause”
exception. This defense, however, is of no consequence in the instant case as
appellant failed to establish the requisite elements. Appellant did not testify and
there is no record indicating whether appellant “reasonably and actually believed
that the [ ] [girl in handcuffs] had a right of self-defense.” Rude v. Adeboyeku, 552
F. Supp. 2d 32, 35 (D.D.C. 2008) (citing Frost v. United States, 618 A.2d 653, 661
(D.C. 1992)). In sum, we do not find that appellant acted with “justifiable and
excusable cause.”
Given the facts in this case, we conclude that there was sufficient evidence
to support appellant’s APO conviction. Accordingly, the judgment of the trial
court is hereby
Affirmed.