Commonwealth v. Gilles

61 Pa. D. & C.4th 42, 2002 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 84
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Indiana County
DecidedDecember 27, 2002
Docketno. 1061 Crim. 2001
StatusPublished

This text of 61 Pa. D. & C.4th 42 (Commonwealth v. Gilles) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Indiana County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Commonwealth v. Gilles, 61 Pa. D. & C.4th 42, 2002 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 84 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2002).

Opinion

OLSON, J.,

This matter comes before the court for consideration of defendant’s petition for writ of habeas corpus. For those reasons set forth in this opinion, defendant’s petition is granted and all charges against him are dismissed.

CASE FACTS

The court is presented with a petition for writ of habeas corpus, the sole inquiry is whether the Commonwealth has established a prima facie case at the prelimi[44]*44nary hearing. Commonwealth v. Austin, 394 Pa. Super. 146, 575 A.2d 141 (1990). A prima facie case exists where the Commonwealth establishes probable cause to believe a crime has been committed and that the defendant is the offender. Commonwealth v. Gray, 322 Pa. Super. 37, 469 A.2d 169 (1983).

In considering the merits for a petition for writ of habeas corpus, the court will ordinarily review the transcript from the preliminary hearing. A transcript has been provided in this case. In addition, the parties are entitled at hearing to present additional evidence on the issue. Commonwealth v. Morman, 373 Pa. Super. 360, 541 A.2d 356 (1988). In this case, the parties chose not to have a hearing and elected instead to present this court with a stipulated supplemental record. This record includes the following: a solicitation permit request defendant submitted to the Indiana University of Pennsylvania on October 5, 2001 (request denied); IUP’s solicitation policy; the IUP preliminary crime report authored by Sergeant Gregory Davis, arresting officer; still and video photography taken of the incident immediately before and after the defendant’s arrest; a transcript of audiotape recording by James Gilíes immediately before and after his arrest; and a transcript of July 17, 2002, audio deposition given by Sergeant Gregory Davis, arresting officer. All of these submissions, together with the criminal file at 1061 Crim. 2001, shall constitute the record this court shall use in deciding defendant’s petition.

Defendant is charged with disorderly conduct, failure to disperse and defiant trespass. These charges arise from events which occurred on October 5, 2001, on the IUP campus in a public area known as the Oak Grove. At [45]*45approximately 11:40 a.m., the defendant began to preach a religious message. He claimed that every Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim, Mormon and Jehovah Witness is damned to hell. He declared most IUP students were damned to hell. He characterized the majority of IUP students as “whores and whoremongers,” with campus fraternities being “nothing more than havens and hideouts for drunken homy little devils.” As defendant continued to preach a crowd soon gathered.

Defendant began to trade insults with certain members of the crowd. Defendant suggested certain members were communists or homosexuals. The exchange between defendant and certain crowd members eventually turned to the relationship between homosexuality and Christianity. Some crowd members loudly disagreed with defendant’s views, while others laughed or simply listened quietly. After about 20 minutes, the IUP Police arrived. The following exchange then occurred:

“Davis: Excuse me, do you have a permit to be here?
“Gilíes: Do I need one?
“Davis: Yes, as a matter of fact you do.
“Gilíes: Oh, where do I get one?
“Davis: Pick up your book, come over here.
“Gilíes: I didn’t need one last time.
“Davis: Pick up your book.
“Gilíes: Who do I need to see?
“Davis: You’re talking to him. You can even do it the easy way.
“Gilíes: You’re administration?
“Davis: You can either do it the easy way, or you can do it the hard way. It doesn’t matter to me.
[46]*46“Gilíes: I don’t care either. I beat you last time.
“Davis: Turn around. (Defendant was then arrested.)

The court now will consider defendant’s petition with respect to each of the offenses charged.

DISCUSSION

A. Disorderly Conduct

Defendant was actually charged with two counts of disorderly conduct. In considering the application of defendant’s petition to these charges, the court is guided by those standards enunciated by the Superior Court in Commonwealth v. Gowan, 399 Pa. Super. 477, 582 A.2d 879 (1990). In Gowan, the appellants, two preachers of the Anabaptists’ faith, were preaching and distributing literature to lunchtime passers-by in a public park in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. Appellants were arrested for disorderly conduct when they allegedly refused police officers’ warnings to lower their voices. At non-jury trial, the court found defendants guilty of disorderly conduct as a summary offense. Defendants appealed.

The Superior Court vacated defendants’ convictions. As a threshold consideration, the Superior Court observed: “Standing on a sidewalk or [any] public place reading from the Bible and expressing dissatisfaction with the status quo are constitutionally protected exercises of free speech.... Since the issue in this case turns on the unreasonableness of noise appellants created in exercising their First Amendment right, we must carefully balance the fundamental right to free speech against the annoyance or inconvenience to other persons. . . . [47]*47[Commonwealth v. Mastrangelo, 489 Pa. 254, 414 A.2d 54 (1980)] held that this section may not be used to punish anyone exercising protective] First Amendment rights.” 399 Pa. Super. 477, 480, 582 A.2d 879, 881. In examining the facts before it, the court concluded: “From the testimony presented, we cannot say the activity of the appellants, in the exercise of their right to free speech, created more than an annoyance to the people in and around the park. Other than the police, who went to the park in response to an unspecific complaint, only one person testified to being directly affected by the activity of appellants. The description of the activity of the people in and around the park is consistent with people exhibiting a range of reactions to the preaching, some being annoyed and moving away from it, others remaining to watch and listen, others laughing because of it. Based on all of the testimony, the conclusion reached by the trial court that the preaching constituted unreasonable noise cannot be supported beyond a reasonable doubt.” 399 Pa Super. 477, 482, 582 A.2d 879, 881-82.

J.S. v. Bethlehem Area School District, 569 Pa. 638, 807 A.2d 847 (2002), provides a useful overview of the parameters of protected speech.

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Related

Commonwealth v. Tate
432 A.2d 1382 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1981)
Commonwealth v. Downing
511 A.2d 792 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1986)
Commonwealth v. Mastrangelo
414 A.2d 54 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1980)
Commonwealth v. Austin
575 A.2d 141 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1990)
Commonwealth v. Morman
541 A.2d 356 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1988)
Commonwealth v. Gray
469 A.2d 169 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1984)
Commonwealth v. Gowan
582 A.2d 879 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1990)
J.S. v. Bethlehem Area School District
807 A.2d 847 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 2002)

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Bluebook (online)
61 Pa. D. & C.4th 42, 2002 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 84, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commonwealth-v-gilles-pactcomplindian-2002.