Morehead v. State

746 S.W.2d 830, 1988 Tex. App. LEXIS 723, 1988 WL 28984
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedFebruary 2, 1988
Docket05-87-00038-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 746 S.W.2d 830 (Morehead v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Morehead v. State, 746 S.W.2d 830, 1988 Tex. App. LEXIS 723, 1988 WL 28984 (Tex. Ct. App. 1988).

Opinion

STEWART, Justice.

Gardell Anthony Morehead was convicted of disrupting a lawful meeting, a violation of TEX.PENAL CODE ANN. § 42.05 (Vernon 1974). The jury assessed punishment at thirty days’ confinement, probated, and a fine of $250. Appellant raises sixteen points of error, contending that: 1) the statute is unconstitutionally overbroad and vague; 2) the trial court erred in refusing to submit requested jury instructions; 3) the court committed error when it refused him an evidentiary hearing on his motion to quash; 4) it was improper to prevent testimony and comments from defense counsel concerning first amendment rights; and 5) the evidence is insufficient to support the conviction. For the reasons below, we affirm appellant’s conviction.

I. THE FACTS

The record indicates that appellant attended a session of the national convention *833 of a sorority, at which Jesse Jackson, a sometime presidential candidate, was the speaker. Jackson showed a film and then began a speech. There was no question and answer session, and the audience was not intended to participate except by listening. About three-fourths of the way through Jackson’s speech, appellant arose from his seat and began walking down the center aisle of the auditorium toward the podium. As he reached the front row of seats, he began yelling, apparently at Jackson. A lady from the audience grabbed appellant’s arm and said, “we didn’t come to hear you speak, please sit down.” Appellant pulled away from the woman and continued down the aisle toward Jackson.

There are conflicting versions of what appellant was saying. Some witnesses testified that he was just screaming, with no discemable words. Several witnesses agreed that he called Jackson a liar. One witness testified that he was questioning Jackson about South African affairs, Nicaragua, and the International Monetary Fund. The stories of the audience’s reaction also varied. Some testified that the crowd got loud, with women standing and screaming, approaching hysteria, very hostile. Others stated that there was little reaction other than amusement. There was also disagreement among witnesses as to whether appellant was addressing Jackson, the audience, or both.

When appellant first began yelling, Jackson continued his speech. He eventually stepped away from the podium, interrupting his speech. The police then approached appellant and told him he would have to leave. Appellant continued his yelling, and the police, after a brief struggle, escorted him out of the convention center. He continued yelling as he was escorted up the aisle. After he left, the audience applauded, and Jackson resumed his speech. The witnesses testified that the entire disturbance lasted from thirty seconds to two minutes.

II. CONSTITUTIONALITY OF STATUTE

Section 42.05 of the Texas Penal Code provides:

A person commits an offense if, with intent to prevent or disrupt a lawful meeting, procession, or gathering, he obstructs or interferes with the meeting, procession, or gathering by physical action or verbal utterance.

In his first three points of error, appellant contends that the statute is facially over-broad, overbroad as applied to him, and vague. For these reasons, he contends, the statute violates the first and fourteenth amendments of the United States Constitution and article 1, section 8 of the Texas Constitution. 1

The first amendment provides: “Congress shall make no law ... abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press.... U.S. CONST. Amend. I. This limitation on federal governmental authority also applies to state governments via the fourteenth amendment. Lovell v. Griffin, 303 U.S. 444, 58 S.Ct. 666, 82 L.Ed. 949 (1938). This prohibition against enacting legislation abridging speech has not been read literally by the United States Supreme Court. Thus, the Court has stated, “[T]he First Amendment does not guarantee the right to communicate one’s views at all times and places or in any manner that may be desired.” Heffron v. International Society For Krishna Consciousness, 452 U.S. 640, 101 S.Ct. 2559, 2564, 69 L.Ed.2d 298 (1981). This Court must, however, scrutinize closely a statute that on its face punishes spoken words. See Gooding v. Wilson, 405 U.S. 518, 520-21, 92 S.Ct. 1103, 1105, 31 L.Ed.2d 408 (1972). Such a restriction may be unconstitutionally broad or vague.

A. Overbreadth

A statute is considered impermissi-bly overbroad if, in addition to proscribing *834 activities which may constitutionally be forbidden, it sweeps within its coverage speech or conduct which is protected by the first amendment. Broadrick v. Oklahoma, 413 U.S. 601, 93 S.Ct. 2908, 37 L.Ed. 2d 830 (1973); Clark v. State, 665 S.W.2d 476, 482 (Tex.Crim.App.1984). We must determine whether section 42.05 prohibits protected speech. We are not restricted to the consideration of whether appellant’s speech was protected. Rather, we must consider whether the application of section 42.05 in other situations would also restrict protected speech:

[W]e have consistently allowed attacks on overly broad statutes with no requirement that the person making the attack demonstrate that his own conduct could not be regulated by a statute drawn with the requisite narrow specificity, [citations]. We have fashioned this exception to the usual rules governing standing, ... because of the ‘... danger of tolerating in the area of First Amendment freedoms, the existence of a penal statute susceptible of sweeping and improper application.

Dombrowski v. Pfister, 380 U.S. 479, 486-87, 85 S.Ct. 1116, 1120-21, 14 L.Ed.2d 22 (1965).

1. Competing First Amendment Rights

In this case, appellant’s right to speak comes into conflict with the first amendment rights of the scheduled speaker and the rights of the audience members to assemble peaceably and to listen to the scheduled speaker. We must examine these competing interests.

The Supreme Court has recognized that much of the speech and conduct that disturbs, disrupts or annoys others is constitutionally protected. See Coates v. City of Cincinnati, 402 U.S. 611, 91 S.Ct. 1686, 29 L.Ed.2d 214 (1971); Cox v. Louisiana, 379 U.S. 536, 85 S.Ct. 453, 13 L.Ed.2d 471 (1965); Edwards v. South Carolina, 372 U.S. 229, 83 S.Ct. 680, 9 L.Ed.2d 697 (1963).

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Bluebook (online)
746 S.W.2d 830, 1988 Tex. App. LEXIS 723, 1988 WL 28984, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/morehead-v-state-texapp-1988.