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W.M. v. State

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Third District
Jul 22, 1986
491 So. 2d 335 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1986)

Summary

finding that defendant's conduct during a traffic stop, which drew a large hostile crowd to the scene, constituted disorderly conduct

Summary of this case from U.S. v. Lyons

Opinion

No. 85-431.

July 22, 1986.

Appeal from the Circuit Court, Dade County, Joseph Nadler, J.

Bennett H. Brummer, Public Defender, and N. Joseph Durant, Jr., Miami, for appellant.

Jim Smith, Atty. Gen., and Richard L. Kaplan, Asst. Atty. Gen., for appellee.

Before HUBBART and NESBITT and BASKIN, JJ.


This is an appeal from a juvenile delinquency adjudication for disorderly conduct as proscribed by Section 877.03, Florida Statutes (1985). The sole point urged on appeal is that the evidence was legally insufficient to prove the crime of disorderly conduct. We affirm.

The record reveals that two police officers stopped an automobile in which the respondent W.M. was a passenger. The stop, which was concededly a valid one, was made pursuant to a call about shots being fired from an automobile. The male occupants in the automobile, including the respondent, all got out and started running around shouting profanities at the police officers. The respondent shouted, "Why in the f____ you stopping us? We haven't did anything." A hostile crowd of fifty to seventy-five people gathered which caused the officers to call for back-up police units.

Under these circumstances, we conclude that the respondent's conduct in running around near the automobile shouting profanities at the police officers, which drew a large hostile crowd, constitutes disorderly conduct under the above statute. Plainly, this conduct, coupled with the shouted profanities, "`tend[ed] to incite an immediate breach of the peace,'" State v. Saunders, 339 So.2d 641, 644 (Fla. 1976) (quoting White v. State, 330 So.2d 3, 7 (Fla. 1976)); stated differently, the shouted profanities in the context of this case amounted to "fighting words" within the meaning of the Saunders decision and were accordingly punishable under the disorderly conduct statute. See also White v. State, supra, at 7.

The juvenile delinquency adjudication under review is therefore, in all respects,

Affirmed.


Summaries of

W.M. v. State

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Third District
Jul 22, 1986
491 So. 2d 335 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1986)

finding that defendant's conduct during a traffic stop, which drew a large hostile crowd to the scene, constituted disorderly conduct

Summary of this case from U.S. v. Lyons

finding that defendant's conduct during a traffic stop, which drew a large hostile crowd to the scene, constituted disorderly conduct

Summary of this case from Mikhail v. City of Lake Worth

affirming adjudication for disorderly conduct because defendant's actions of yelling and running around the stopped car drew a hostile crowd of fifty to seventy-five people and resulted in the police calling for back-up due to safety concerns

Summary of this case from Barry v. State
Case details for

W.M. v. State

Case Details

Full title:W.M., A JUVENILE, APPELLANT, v. THE STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Court:District Court of Appeal of Florida, Third District

Date published: Jul 22, 1986

Citations

491 So. 2d 335 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1986)

Citing Cases

V.B. v. State

AFFIRMED. See W.M. v. State, 491 So.2d 335 (Fla. 3d DCA 1986). SHARP, W., ORFINGER and LAWSON, JJ.,…

U.S. v. Lyons

The limitation discussed in Saunders concerns arrests for speech only. Since Lyons's conduct did not consist…