Opinion ID: 6322204
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: facts

Text: Grant was charged with violating two provisions under the Lincoln Municipal Code, sections “9.12.010A” and “9.20.050.” The complaint alleged that Grant had “[i]ntentionally or knowingly disturb[ed] the peace and quiet of . . . Gregory Lee Patterson and Jennifer Sue Ponce” and that he had “[i]ntentionally or knowingly threaten[ed] [Ponce] in a menacing - 705 - Nebraska Supreme Court Advance Sheets 310 Nebraska Reports STATE v. GRANT Cite as 310 Neb. 700 manner, attempt[ed] to strike her, or place[d] . . . her in fear or apprehension of imminent bodily harm . . . .” Grant pled not guilty to both charges. At a bench trial, the State called three witnesses, beginning with one of the alleged victims, Jennifer Sue Ponce. She averred that on the day in question, she had been working as a professional painter. While painting a house in Lincoln with a colleague, Ponce heard a man shouting from across the street. She identified that man in court as Grant. She said that Grant yelled “vulgar things” at them as he stood on an apartment balcony about 50 yards away. Grant said, for example, that they were “‘doing a shitty job[,] a half-ass job’” of painting, that they were “‘never . . . there early enough,’” that they “‘shouldn’t even [have] be[en] doing that kind of work,’” and that they “‘[didn’t] even know what [they were] doing.’” Grant continued to shout in this manner for some period of time, between a “half an hour” and “an hour or so,” and his vulgarity increased with time. Specifically, he threatened to “‘put bullets in your boyfriends.’” And he also made lewd comments about Ponce’s body, yelling, “‘Nice’ . . . ‘ass,’” and “‘Your tits are hanging out.’” When asked whether she had felt threatened by Grant’s comments, Ponce offered mixed responses, answering “[y]es,” that she had felt threatened, but also clarifying that she had not been concerned for her safety, “just because he wasn’t coming across — he wasn’t off of his balcony. But, if he would’ve came off the balcony, probably, yes.” Ponce acknowledged that while Grant had threatened others, he had not directly threatened to shoot her or her colleague. Still, feeling “[v]iolated” and “disturbed,” and frustrated that her work was being interrupted, Ponce had called the police. Gregory Lee Patterson, another alleged victim, testified next. A resident of the house neighboring the one Ponce had been painting, he spent portions of the day in question smoking cigarettes on his front porch. While there, Patterson heard the vulgar things Grant had “loud[ly]” said to Ponce and her - 706 - Nebraska Supreme Court Advance Sheets 310 Nebraska Reports STATE v. GRANT Cite as 310 Neb. 700 colleague. Patterson also recalled Grant’s shouting of racial epithets at him. Patterson recounted Grant’s shouts of “‘Fuck all them [racial epithet]’” and “‘Kill them all’ and ‘send them back to Africa.’” Grant had also shouted, “‘Yeah, I’d kill them [racial epithet], too. I’d kill him [Patterson], too.’” When asked whether Patterson viewed Grant’s words on the day in question as threatening, Patterson testified that “I was the only black person there, so [Grant’s statement about killing] had to be towards me.” However, Patterson acknowledged that “this ain’t the first time [Grant’s] said something about killing blacks and Mexicans”; “he was doing this all the time.” Patterson also recounted that “this ain’t nothing new. He’d always sit on the porch and holler racial slurs, all the time, towards me, towards the neighbors, even towards people walking down the street.” The State’s final witness was Breanna Callese, the officer with the Lincoln Police Department who responded to Ponce’s call. Callese said that during her investigation, Grant admitted to calling Patterson a racial epithet and to telling Ponce that “he was going to . . . ‘light them up.’” Grant maintained, however, that such expression was protected by his “[F]irst [A]mendment right.” Unpersuaded, Callese cited him with disturbing the peace. Callese recalled being summoned again to the same location a short time later because Grant’s shouting had apparently continued unabated. This time, Grant claimed that his yelling had not been directed at Ponce and Patterson, but, rather, that it had been directed into his phone at his sister. Callese refrained from citing Grant with a second count of disturbing the peace. Grant was officially charged on July 26, 2019, with one count of disturbing the peace and an additional count of assault or menacing threats. Grant called no additional witnesses and offered no other evidence of his own. At the close of the State’s evidence, the county court for Lancaster County found Grant guilty of both counts alleged in the complaint. The county court then - 707 - Nebraska Supreme Court Advance Sheets 310 Nebraska Reports STATE v. GRANT Cite as 310 Neb. 700 sentenced him to 10 days in jail for each conviction, the sentences to run concurrently. After sentencing, Grant perfected a timely appeal to the district court for Lancaster County. Sitting as an intermediate court of appellate review, that court affirmed. Grant again perfected a timely appeal, and we moved his appeal to our docket.