Summary
The Nebraska Supreme Court affirmed Nicole Cervantes' misdemeanor conviction for obstructing a peace officer. The court held that, viewed in the light most favorable to the State, sufficient evidence showed that Cervantes intentionally fled from officers investigating a protection-order violation, thereby hindering their enforcement efforts.
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Questions Presented
- Whether the evidence was sufficient to prove that Cervantes intentionally obstructed, impaired, or hindered peace officers who were acting under color of official authority to enforce a penal law, by using or threatening to use violence, force, physical interference, or an obstacle, in violation of Neb. Rev. Stat. § 28-906(1).
- Whether Cervantes' flight from the residence through a window was sufficient to constitute physical interference or an obstacle under the obstruction statute.
Holdings
- A conviction from a criminal bench trial will be sustained when properly admitted evidence, viewed in the light most favorable to the State, is sufficient for any rational trier of fact to find the essential elements beyond a reasonable doubt.
- To prove obstruction under § 28-906(1), the State must establish that the defendant intentionally obstructed, impaired, or hindered a peace officer acting under color of official authority to enforce the penal law or preserve the peace, and did so by using or threatening to use violence, force, physical interference, or an obstacle.
- The evidence was sufficient for the district court to find that Cervantes' intentional flight through a window obstructed or impaired the officers while they were investigating and enforcing a potential protection-order violation.
Key quotations
“To show a violation of § 28-906(1), the State must prove that (1) the defendant intentionally obstructed, impaired, or hindered either a peace officer, a judge, or a police animal assisting a peace officer; (2) at the time the defendant did so, the peace officer or judge was acting under color of his or her official authority to enforce the penal law or preserve the peace; and (3) the defendant did so by using or threatening to use either violence, force, physical interference, or obstacle.” (at 745)
“Under the facts presented at trial, Cervantes’ flight out the window physically obstructed and impaired law enforcement.” (at 748)
Factual background
Police officers went to Cervantes' home to return property and encountered her husband, Casey, who was subject to an active protection order prohibiting contact with her. After hearing the officers at the home, Cervantes fled through a bathroom window and was found about a block away. She told officers that she had fled because she was afraid she would get in trouble, and the district court found that her intentional flight hindered the officers' investigation of a potential protection-order violation.
Procedural history
The State charged Cervantes with aiding and abetting a protection-order violation and obstructing a peace officer. After a bench trial, the district court acquitted her of the felony protection-order charge but convicted her of obstructing a peace officer, sentencing her to six days' imprisonment with credit for time served and 12 months of probation. The Nebraska Supreme Court affirmed.