Opinion ID: 522855
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Camping Incident

Text: 4 The following day, March 25, 1987, the second incident occurred. While the evidence of the government and the appellant differ somewhat, we accept as true for purposes of this appeal the evidence of the government. See Part IIC, infra. Park Police Officer Daniel Mark DeLullo arrived at Lafayette Park at approximately 10:00 p.m. He observed Musser asleep on what he described as two wooden pallets. Musser lay on cloth material on top of the pallets under a yellow blanket covered with plastic over his entire body and had some sort of cloth material under his head as a pillow. Beside him were bags of materials, leaflets, and two coffee cans. DeLullo approached Musser, shined his flashlight in his face, and spoke to him. When he received no response, and Musser did not open his eyes, he spoke to him again, still receiving no response, and finally tapped Musser's foot with his own. Musser then lifted his head and opened his eyes. The Officer told Musser that he was not allowed under camping regulations to sleep or camp in the Park and moved on, leaving Musser in a sitting position. 5 Approximately one hour later, at 11:00 p.m., the Officer returned to the same area of the Park and found Musser still lying on the pallets, his eyes closed, apparently asleep. The same belongings, blanket, and makeshift pillow were in the same positions as before. The Officer proceeded in the same sequence of flashlight shining, attempted verbal wake-up, and foot tapping as before. Again, the Officer warned Musser of the prohibition against sleeping or camping and this time warned him not to go back to sleep. The Officer continued on patrol. When the Officer left the area, Musser was still lying down, but he was awake and his eyes were open. 6 A little over an hour later, at approximately ten minutes after midnight on March 26, the Officer returned and found the scene unchanged and the appellant again asleep. This time he took him by the shoulder, shook him awake, advised him he was in violation of the Code of Federal Regulations, and issued a violation notice.