People ex rel. R.C.

411 P.3d 1105
CourtColorado Court of Appeals
DecidedNovember 17, 2016
DocketCourt of Appeals No. 14CA2210
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 411 P.3d 1105 (People ex rel. R.C.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Colorado Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People ex rel. R.C., 411 P.3d 1105 (Colo. Ct. App. 2016).

Opinions

Opinion by JUDGE HARRIS

¶ 1 R.C., a fourteen-year-old middle school student, took a photo of his friend, L.P., and then drew a penis over the photo. He showed the doctored photo to L.P. and some other friends. L.P. reported R.C. to the principal, who called the police. The police charged R.C. with disorderly conduct and, after a bench trial, the court adjudicated R.C. a delinquent.

¶ 2 On appeal, R.C. challenges the sufficiency of the evidence, arguing, primarily, that the prosecution failed to prove that his display of the photograph tended to incite an immediate breach of the peace. We agree and therefore reverse.

I. Background

¶ 3 During class one afternoon, R.C. used his cell phone to take a photo of L.P. Then, using the mobile application Snapchat, he drew a picture of an ejaculating penis next to L.P.'s mouth.1 R.C. showed the altered photo to L.P. and three other friends. R.C. was "giggling" when he showed the other boys *1107the photo. One of the other boys laughed too, but L.P. felt "bad." About five minutes later, class ended and the boys went to lunch.

¶ 4 In the cafeteria, a few other students looked at the photo and laughed, which made L.P. feel even worse. Two of L.P.'s friends told R.C. to apologize and R.C. agreed to, but when he approached L.P., L.P. pushed R.C. away. L.P. and his friends reported the incident to the principal later that day.

¶ 5 R.C. was charged with disorderly conduct, and the case proceeded to trial. The court ruled that R.C. knew that his drawing would make L.P. feel humiliated and ashamed and would have tended to incite an immediate breach of the peace, in large part because the drawing implied that L.P. was "homosexual or behaves in that kind of behavior or has some sort of demeanor about that." The court sentenced R.C. to three months of probation, therapy, and eight hours of work crew.

II. Discussion

¶ 6 A person commits disorderly conduct if he or she "intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly: ... [m]akes a coarse and obviously offensive utterance, gesture, or display in a public place and the utterance, gesture, or display tends to incite an immediate breach of the peace." § 18-9-106(1)(a), C.R.S. 2016.

¶ 7 R.C. contends that the prosecution failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt every element of the offense of disorderly conduct. According to R.C., his drawing was protected speech because, consistent with the First Amendment, only "fighting words" are prohibited under the statute, and the altered photo did not qualify as fighting words. Even if it did, R.C. says, the prosecution failed to prove that he knew, or recklessly disregarded a substantial risk, that displaying the photo was likely to provoke an immediate, violent response.2

*1108A. Standard of Review

¶ 8 On a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence, we review the record de novo to determine whether the evidence, viewed as a whole and in the light most favorable to the prosecution, is both "substantial and sufficient" to support the defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Dempsey v. People , 117 P.3d 800, 807 (Colo. 2005). In applying this test, "we must give the prosecution the benefit of every reasonable inference that might fairly be drawn from the evidence." People v. Atencio , 140 P.3d 73, 75 (Colo. App. 2005). And we will not disturb the fact finder's determinations of witness credibility and the weight to be given to the evidence. People v. McIntier , 134 P.3d 467, 471 (Colo. App. 2005).

B. Analysis

¶ 9 The United States and Colorado Constitutions prohibit the enactment of laws abridging or impairing freedom of speech. U.S. Const. amend. I ; Colo. Const. art. II, § 10 ; see also NAACP v. Button , 371 U.S. 415, 444-45, 83 S.Ct. 328, 9 L.Ed.2d 405 (1963) (The "Constitution protects expression ... without regard ... to the truth, popularity, or social utility of the ideas and beliefs which are offered."). Still, the constitutional prohibition is not absolute: courts have upheld the constitutionality of statutes that prohibit obscenity, see Miller v. California , 413 U.S. 15, 93 S.Ct. 2607, 37 L.Ed.2d 419 (1973) ; libel, see N.Y. Times Co. v. Sullivan , 376 U.S. 254, 84 S.Ct. 710, 11 L.Ed.2d 686 (1964) ; incitement, see Brandenburg v. Ohio , 395 U.S. 444, 89 S.Ct. 1827, 23 L.Ed.2d 430 (1969) ; invasion of substantial privacy interests of the home, see Rowan v. U.S. Post Office Dep't , 397 U.S. 728, 90 S.Ct. 1484, 25 L.Ed.2d 736 (1970) ; and, as relevant here, "fighting words." Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire , 315 U.S. 568

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411 P.3d 1105, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-ex-rel-rc-coloctapp-2016.