Case Title: State v. Allcock

Citation: 177 Vt. 467, 2004 VT 52, 857 A.2d 287

Docket Number: 

State: vermont

Court: Vermont Supreme Court

Date: 2004-06-09T00:00:00Z

Document:
State v. Allcock  (2002-504); 177 Vt. 467; 857 A.2d 287

2004 VT 52

[Filed 9-Jun-2004]

                                 ENTRY ORDER

                                 2004 VT 52

                      SUPREME COURT DOCKET NO. 2002-504

                             OCTOBER TERM, 2003

  State of Vermont                   }     APPEALED FROM:
                                     }
                                     }     District Court of Vermont,
       v.                            }     Unit No. 1, Windham Circuit
                                     }     
  Christina M. Allcock               }
                                     }     DOCKET NO. 289-2-02 Wmcr

                                           Trial Judge: Karen R. Carroll

       In the above-entitled cause, the Clerk will enter:

       ¶ 1     Defendant appeals from a conviction, based on a jury verdict,
  of disorderly conduct in violation of 13 V.S.A. § 1026(3).(FN1)  She
  contends that the evidence was insufficient to support a finding that her
  use of abusive or "fighting words" tended to incite an immediate breach of
  the peace.  We affirm.
  
       ¶ 2     The record evidence may be briefly summarized as follows. 
  On January 29, 2002, defendant entered Our Place, a food shelf located in
  Bellows Falls.  Upon entering, defendant asked an employee there if she
  could be served by someone other than Lisa Foster, explaining that she
  believed Foster had "crabs" and was sleeping with defendant's former
  husband.  The employee conveyed defendant's concerns to Foster, who, in
  turn, consulted with her supervisor, Jessi Wilkins.  Wilkins told Foster to
  return to work and invited defendant into a conference room.  There,
  according to Wilkins, defendant reiterated her objection to Foster, stating
  that she "did not want Lisa . . . to do her fucking food shelf."

       ¶ 3     Foster recalled that as defendant emerged from the
  conference room, "[s]he was calling me a bitch and telling me to go fuck
  myself, and her husband - gave her husband crabs, and fuck all of us, and
  then stormed out."  Wilkins recounted that, as she tried to get defendant
  to leave, defendant picked up books off the bookshelf and threw them across
  the room while continuously yelling "fuck you" at Wilkins and calling her a
  bitch.  Defendant also picked up a box of bread and threw it into the
  dining room, while "telling [Wilkins] to stick it up my ass and fuck
  myself."  Wilkins also testified that when she told defendant that she
  would be forced to call the police if defendant did not leave, defendant
  responded that she could "call the fucking police."  Other people who were
  at the food shelf premises to receive services reacted to the incident by
  leaving the building.

       ¶ 4     Foster recounted that she did not feel threatened by
  defendant, but was embarrassed by being "accus[ed] . . . of transmitting a
  venereal disease."  Wilkins also recalled that she did not fear for her
  physical safety, but felt that defendant did not use "appropriate language
  or behavior."

       ¶ 5     The jury returned a verdict of guilty on the charge of
  disorderly conduct.  Defendant subsequently moved to set aside the verdict
  on the ground that her language did not tend to incite an immediate breach
  of the peace.  The court denied the motion.  This appeal followed.

       ¶ 6     In State v. Read, 165 Vt. 141, 148,