Cleveland v. Swiecicki, 80681.
| Decision Date | 08 August 2002 |
| Docket Number | No. 80681.,80681. |
| Parties | CITY OF CLEVELAND, Appellee, v. SWIECICKI, Appellant. |
| Court | Ohio Court of Appeals |
Stephanie L. Jerlstrom, Assistant City Prosecutor, for appellee.
John J. Spellacy and Albert A. Giuliani, Cleveland, for appellant.
{¶ 1} Jeffrey Swiecicki appeals from a judgment of the Cleveland Municipal Court finding him guilty of disorderly conduct and resisting arrest in connection with his heckling of Russell Branyan, a Cleveland Indians baseball player, during a game at Jacobs Field. On appeal, Swiecicki claims that the city failed to produce sufficient evidence to support his convictions. We agree and therefore vacate the court's judgment and discharge him.
{¶ 2} On September 25, 2001, Swiecicki and several friends attended the Indians game, sat in the left field bleachers at Jacobs Field, and heckled Indians' left fielder Russell Branyan throughout the game. During the seventh inning, Swiecicki yelled: This caught the attention of Jose Delgado, a Cleveland policeman who at the time worked as a security officer for the Cleveland Indians. Delgado motioned for Swiecicki to stop, but Swiecicki instead began to argue with Delgado. Delgado then approached Swiecicki's row and asked Swiecicki to come to him. When Swiecicki refused, Delgado went into the row and ordered Swiecicki to get up and go with him. When Swiecicki again refused, Delgado said, "Well, we can do this the easy way or the hard way."
{¶ 3} At that point, Swiecicki stood up and Delgado grabbed him in the "escort" position, that is, by one arm with both hands on the arm, and took him down the steps of the bleachers section. As they approached the tunnel to leave the bleachers section, Swiecicki began to argue again. Then as he jerked his arm out of Delgado's grip and pushed his arm away, Delgado said, "Now you arthunder arrest," turned him around, and placed him against the wall. Swiecicki's brother Scott, then approached them. While Delgado motioned Scott to stop, Swiecicki broke from Delgado's grasp and turned around to face Delgado. As a result, Delgado, while telling Swiecicki to get down and to stop resisting, executed an "arm bar" by grabbing Swiecicki's arm, twisting it and locking it in a bond and finally brought him to the ground. He then handcuffed him and called on his radio for backup support; the officers who arrived to assist Delgado took Swiecicki to a holding room in the basement of Jacobs Field and later escorted him to jail.
{¶ 4} Subsequently, Delgado signed two separate complaints charging Swiecicki with aggravated disorderly conduct in violation of Section 605.03 of the Cleveland Codified Ordinances ("C.C.O.") and resisting arrest in violation of C.C.O. 615.08. Swiecicki entered pleas of not guilty, and the court scheduled the matter for trial.
{¶ 5} At the bench trial, Delgado testified that he observed Swiecicki carrying beers back to his seat several times during the game and saw him holding a beer in his hand when he yelled at Branyan. Wilfred Labrie, who worked as an usher, also testified for the city, stating that he heard some "foul and abusive" language.
{¶ 6} Swiecicki testified in his own behalf, admitting that he heckled Branyan throughout the game. Five of his friends who attended the game testified that his comments during the game did not annoy them.
{¶ 7} The court, after hearing the evidence, found Swiecicki not guilty of aggravated disorderly conduct but guilty of disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. The court sentenced him to a fine of $50 for disorderly conduct and a fine of $251 and one day in jail for resisting arrest.
{¶ 8} Swiecicki now appeals, presenting five assignments of error for our review. As our resolution of his first and third assignments of error determines the outcome of this appeal, we address them first. They state, respectively:
{¶ 9}
{¶ 10}
{¶ 11} Swiecicki maintains that the evidence presented by the city does not support his convictions of disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.
{¶ 12} In State v. Martin (1983), 20 Ohio App.3d 172, 175, 20 OBR 215, 485 N.E.2d 717, the court summarized the standard of review for an insufficiency claim:
{¶ 13}
{¶ 14} Regarding the charge of disorderly conduct, the Codified Ordinances of the city of Cleveland provide:
{¶ 15} "605.03 Disorderly Conduct; Intoxication
{¶ 16} "* * *
{¶ 17} "(b) No person, while voluntarily intoxicated shall do either of the following:
{¶ 18} "(1) In a public place or in the presence of two or more persons, engage in conduct likely to be offensive or to cause inconvenience, annoyance or alarm to persons of ordinary sensibilities, which conduct the offender, if he were not intoxicated, should know is likely to have such effect on others;
{¶ 19} "* * *
{¶ 20}
{¶ 21} At trial, the city assumed the burden to prove that Swiecicki was intoxicated, that he engaged in conduct likely to be offensive or cause inconvenience, annoyance, or alarm to persons of ordinary sensibilities, and that, if not intoxicated, he should have known that such conduct was likely to have had that effect on others.
{¶ 22} The only evidence the city produced to establish intoxication consisted of Delgado's testimony that he observed Swiecicki carrying beers several times back to his seat and holding a beer while yelling at Branyan. The city did not present...
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Swiecicki v. Delgado
...of disorderly conduct and resisting arrest, but his convictions were overturned on appeal. See City of Cleveland v. Swiecicki, 149 Ohio App.3d 77, 82, 775 N.E.2d 899 (Ohio Ct.App.2002). He subsequently filed an action in federal district court pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging that Del......
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State v. Mahalli
...No. 55108, 1989 Ohio App. LEXIS 1126 (Mar. 30, 1989). {¶18} This court recognized as much in a case Mahalli relies on, Cleveland v. Swiecicki, 149 Ohio App.3d 77, 2002-Ohio-4027, 775 N.E.2d 899 (8th Dist.). In Swiecicki, the defendant was convicted of disorderly conduct and resisting arrest......
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State v. Napier, 2010 Ohio 563 (Ohio App. 2/19/2010), C.A. No. 09CA0002.
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