Evans v. State
| Decision Date | 09 September 1988 |
| Docket Number | No. 76665,76665 |
| Citation | 373 S.E.2d 52,188 Ga.App. 347 |
| Parties | EVANS v. The STATE. |
| Court | Georgia Court of Appeals |
James W. Friedewald, Marietta, for appellant.
Patrick H. Head, Sol., Melodie H. Clayton, Amy A. Hembree, Asst. Sols., for appellee.
Appellant Charles Evans was tried by a jury for failing to drive on the right half of the roadway and using abusive and opprobrious language. Although the traffic violation was dismissed, the jury found appellant guilty of using abusive and opprobrious language in violation of OCGA § 16-11-39, for which he was fined $200. Held:
1. Appellant contends that he was justified in questioning the police officers since the traffic violation, which was the basis for his apprehension, was eventually dismissed. Furthermore, appellant claims the language used was neither opprobrious nor abusive.
OCGA § 16-11-39 provides: "A person who commits any of the following acts commits a misdemeanor: (1) Without provocation, uses to or of another, in his presence, opprobrious or abusive words which by their very utterance tend to incite to an immediate breach of the peace, that is to say, words which as a matter of common knowledge and under ordinary circumstances will, when used to or of another person in his presence, naturally tend to provoke violent resentment, that is, words commonly called 'fighting words'...." Appellant argues that the officer admitted the language used was "very routine" and thus, tends to show there was no provocation of violent resentment. OCGA § 16-11-39 makes no distinction between the types of persons to whom the words are uttered. See Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire, 315 U.S. 568(2), 62 S.Ct. 766, 86 L.Ed. 1031. The fact that a policeman admits to hearing obscene language during the performance of his duties is not a defense available to the defendant under this code section. Bolden v. State, 148 Ga.App. 315, 316(2), 251 S.E.2d 165.
The jury is required only to determine that the words uttered would, as a matter of common knowledge, naturally tend to provoke a violent response. Bolden, supra. There was ample evidence to support the jury verdict. The officer testified that the appellant called him a "g ...d ... liar" and told all the officers at the scene to "f ... o...." The evidence adduced at trial was sufficient to enable a rational trier of fact to find the defendant's guilt of the crime charged beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560. "The acquittal of the [defendant] on the charge of [failing to drive on the right half of the roadway] does not mean that the jury could not also find that the words uttered by the [defendant] were of the type which [would] tend to...
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Knowles v. State
...717 (1998), abrogated on other grounds by Golden Peanut Co. v. Bass, 249 Ga.App. 224, 547 S.E.2d 637 (2001) ; Evans v. State, 188 Ga.App. 347, 347 (1), 373 S.E.2d 52 (1988) ; Brooks v. State, 166 Ga.App. 704, 705, 305 S.E.2d 436 (1983). But to the extent that our decisions in these cases ca......
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Tucker v. State, A98A0484.
...that the words uttered would, as a matter of common knowledge, naturally tend to provoke a violent response. [Cit.]" Evans v. State, 188 Ga.App. 347(1), 373 S.E.2d 52 (1988). Moreover, in determining whether words constitute fighting words, "[t]he circumstances surrounding the words can be ......
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Turner v. State, A05A0436.
...confrontation with the officer, and the opprobrious words amounted to far more than a one-word insult. In Evans v. State, 188 Ga.App. 347, 373 S.E.2d 52 (1988), after being stopped for a traffic violation, the defendant called one officer a "`g ... d... liar'" and told all the officers on t......
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Person v. State
...of Officer Moore in violation of OCGA § 16-11-39(1). Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560; Evans v. State, 188 Ga.App. 347(1), 373 S.E.2d 52. "See in this regard Johnson v. State, 143 Ga.App. 826, 240 S.E.2d 207 (1977), where [it was] held that appellant's loud a......