Opinion ID: 171480
Heading Depth: 7
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Ms. Silva-Banuelos

Text: Ms. Silva-Banuelos was arrested for resisting, evading, or obstructing an officer and for public nuisance. See N.M. STAT. ANN. § 30-22-1. The prosecutor later reduced this charge to a violation of ROA 1994 § 12-2-19 of the Albuquerque City Code, which provides language nearly identical to the state statute. [2] Under New Mexico law, resisting, evading, or obstructing an officer consists of: A. knowingly obstructing, resisting or opposing any officer of this state or any other duly authorized person serving or attempting to serve or execute any process or any rule or order of any of the courts of this state or any other judicial writ or process; B. intentionally fleeing, attempting to evade or evading an officer of this state when the person committing the act of fleeing, attempting to evade or evasion has knowledge that the officer is attempting to apprehend or arrest him; C. willfully refusing to bring a vehicle to a stop when given a visual or audible signal to stop, whether by hand, voice, emergency light, flashing light, siren or other signal, by a uniformed officer in an appropriately marked police vehicle; or D. resisting or abusing any judge, magistrate or peace officer in the lawful discharge of his duties. N.M. STAT. ANN. § 30-22-1. Under New Mexico law, public nuisance consists of: knowingly creating, performing or maintaining anything affecting any number of citizens without lawful authority which is either: A. injurious to public health, safety, morals or welfare; or B. interferes with the exercise and enjoyment of public rights, including the right to use public property. Whoever commits a public nuisance for which the act or penalty is not otherwise prescribed by law is guilty of a petty misdemeanor. N.M. STAT. ANN. § 30-8-1. Ms. Silva-Banuelos stood in the sidewalk chanting police strike before her arrest. Aplts' App. vol. VIII, at 1993. As horse-mounted officers approached, she moved to the sidewalk, and raised her hands making peace signs. She was arrested by an officer who was on foot. Taking the facts in the light most favorable to Ms. Silva-Banuelos, we agree that Capt. Gonzales brings no argument before this court that such actions constituted either resisting or abusing an officer in the course of his duties. Nor does he offer an argument that her actions could amount to a public nuisance before us on appeal. Capt. Gonzales focuses his arguments on appeal on those violations for which Ms. Silva-Banuelos was not charged. He contends that there is more than probable cause establishing she violated the City's parade ordinance, as there is no dispute that the demonstrators did not obtain a parade permit, and that they marched on the public streets. See ROA 1994 § 7-3-5. Similarly, there is no dispute that state and city law requires persons to walk on the sidewalk if one is available. See N.M. STAT. ANN. § 66-7-339, and ROA 1994 8-2-7-7. Finally, Capt. Gonzales maintains that there was probable cause for an officer to believe Ms. Silva-Banuelos was engaging in disorderly conduct. As to the parade permit ordinance, because Ms. Silva-Banuelos was marching in a procession without a permit, Capt. Gonzales argues that any APD officer could easily have concluded that she was in violation of the ordinance. Similarly, he argues that one video clearly depicts Ms. Silva-Banuelos chanting in the street, in violation of the regulations regarding walking in the street. However, the Arrested Plaintiffs maintain that several streets were closed before the demonstrators moved to the streets. The protestors assumed that police, by directing the procession, were actually permitting, if not sanctioning, the march and its flow into the streets. Capt. Gonzales argues that [b]ecause the protestors refused to clear the streets, [he] ultimately ordered the closure of part of Central Avenue to traffic. Aplt's Br. at 27. However, as the district court noted, the historical facts seen in the light most favorable to the plaintiffs would not amount to probable cause because the officers' conduct essentially amounted to the grant of a de facto parade permit, as the officers would have been aware: Seen in the light most favorable to Plaintiffs, the evidence suggests that Defendants may have implicitly sanctioned the march not only by closing off streets to traffic, but also by directing the progress and direction of the procession. In addition, because the authority to grant parade permit applications lay with the APD Chief of Police (Chief Gilbert Gallegos was present at the demonstration), any action by APD officers acquiescing to an unplanned march could reasonably have been interpreted as a waiver of the parade permit requirement. Under the circumstances viewed in a light most favorable to Plaintiff Silva-Banuelos, none of the APD officers could have had probable cause to arrest [her] for violating the Parade Ordinance. Aplts' App. vol. VIII, at 1996. [3] We agree with the district court's conclusion that, taking the facts in the light most favorable to Ms. Silva-Banuelos, the APD's street closures and direction of the procession sanctioned the protestors walking along the road and waived the permit requirement. Finally, we turn to Capt. Gonzales's argument that a reasonable officer might have objectively believed Ms. Silva-Banuelos was engaged in disorderly conduct. See N.M. STAT. ANN. § 30-20-1(A) (defining disorderly conduct as engaging in violent, abusive, indecent, profane, boisterous, unreasonably loud or otherwise disorderly conduct which tends to disturb the peace). We have explained: Under New Mexico law, disorderly conduct must meet two requirements. The first requirement is that the conduct itself fall into one of the categories enumerated in the statute by being violent, abusive, indecent, profane, boisterous, unreasonably loud, or otherwise disorderly. Id. The second prong measures the potential effect of the conduct on others, requiring that it tend to disturb the peace. State v. Oden, 82 N.M. 563, 484 P.2d 1273, 1274 (Ct.App.1971) (holding that tend to disturb the peace is an independent element of disorderly conduct). Disturbing the peace requires an act of violence, or ... an act likely to produce violence, or which, by causing consternation and alarm, disturbs the peace and quiet of the community. State v. Florstedt, 77 N.M. 47, 419 P.2d 248, 249 (1966) (quotation omitted). Fogarty, 523 F.3d at 1156-57. Capt. Gonzales contends there was an ample basis for probable cause to believe Ms. Silva-Banuelos engaged in disorderly conduct, as she was marching through the streets during rush hour traffic and refusing to obey the officers' lawful commands to clear the streets. Aplt's Br. at 28. But, as the district court noted, one video depicts her chanting for about a minute, followed by her standing quietly in the street. There is testimony that one officer identified Ms. Silva-Banuelos as the long-haired girl and observed some of her actions. We agree with the district court that one minute of chanting a non-abusive, non-profane slogan (police strike) does not amount to disturbing the peace or inciting an act of violence. See, e.g., Hess v. Indiana, 414 U.S. 105, 108-09, 94 S.Ct. 326, 38 L.Ed.2d 303 (1973) (overturning disorderly conduct conviction of antiwar protestor who yelled We'll take the f___ing street later (or again)). We thus reject Capt. Gonzales's suggestion that there was probable cause for her arrest.