Judge Lyle Frank

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Defendants, charged with, among other things, disorderly conduct, moved to dismiss the charge for facial insufficiency. A superseding information alleged an arresting officer observed an unknown unapprehended female slap the hand of a male known to the District Attorney's office. The officer attempted to place the female under arrest for the attack, but observed defendants link arms in the middle of a street and block the officer's access to the female. Despite being told by officers to separate arms, disperse and move, defendants failed to listen, and remained standing with linked arms barring the arresting officer's access to the female. The court noted, as the Court of Appeals made clear, evidence of actual or threatened public harm was a necessary element of a valid disorderly conduct charge. It agreed with defendants the information lacked any indication defendants intentionally caused a public inconvenience or recklessly created a risk of public harm. The court found the information lacked an indication there were any members of the public present at the subject location, thus, no indication the mens rea component of the offense was present. Thus, defendants' motions to dismiss the disorderly conduct charge was granted.

Judge Lyle Frank