Opinion ID: 2544958
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Proof of Whose Peace was Disturbed

Text: ¶ 8 Citing State v. Johnson, 112 Ariz. 383, 542 P.2d 808 (1975), the court of appeals stated that evidence of actual disturbance is not required. Julio L., 195 Ariz. at 484, 990 P.2d at 685. However, Johnson is distinguished. In Johnson, the defendant was charged with disturbing the peace of a neighborhood by making a loud and unusual noise. Johnson, 112 Ariz. at 384, 542 P.2d at 809. Two police officers heard the noise and testified to its level and nature. No resident of the neighborhood needed to give testimony because the officers could adequately describe its loud and disturbing nature. The court there merely said that an objective standard, in lieu of proof regarding the effect on a specific person, can be used when a defendant is charged with making noise that disturbed the peace of a neighborhood. Id. at 385, 542 P.2d at 810. In the present case, however, Ferrero was the victim named in the charges against Julio. Thus, the state must prove that Ferrero's peace was indeed disturbed. The state could not have argued that the peace of the school was disrupted. This incident took place between classes and with few observers. The testimony does not establish, and the state did not charge, that any class or school function was disturbed or affected by Julio's cursing or kicking the chair. The case thus differs from In the Interest of D.A.D., 224 Ga.App. 527, 481 S.E.2d 262 (1997), cited by the court of appeals, which involved a student who shouted obscenities and slapped a teacher during class and in front of other students, disrupting the peace of the students individually and the class as a whole. ¶ 9 Turning to the actual charge, we note that Ferrero has 18 years of experience as a teacher and administrator. She has been trained to discipline children in a non-confrontational manner and to depersonalize comments made in a disciplinary situation. The school is an alternative one for children not successful in the standard school setting. Behavioral problems such as verbal aggression and acting out are not unusual. One of Ferrero's duties as an administrator is to handle disciplinary matters like Julio's outburst. Thus, her job functions could not have been seriously disrupted. To the contrary, she was performing her duties in dealing with Julio's behavior. She stated, in fact, that she was not personally offended by Julio's conduct, but only administratively offended, and dealt with this by suspending Julio from school. We cannot say, therefore, that Ferrero's peace was disturbed. Even if the state had alleged and proven that Ferrero's peace was disturbed, the question of whether Julio's conduct rose to the level of seriously disruptive behavior would remain.