Court rules student's artwork not a threat to police
Published 9:35 a.m. PDT Thursday, August 1, 2002
CHICO, Calif. (AP) - A Pleasant Valley High School student's art
class painting that
showed him shooting a police officer who had cited him for
possessing marijuana did
not constitute a criminal threat, a state appeals court has ruled.
The youth, identified in court papers only as Ryan D., never showed
his painting to
Chico Police Sgt. Lori MacPhail, the state Court of Appeals in
Sacramento said
Tuesday. The court said that paintings are ambiguous as a statement
of intent and that
the artwork didn't amount to a threat.
The painting showed the boy "shooting the officer in the back of
the head, blowing
away pieces of her flesh and face," the court noted.
"Without question, it was intemperate and demonstrated extremely
poor judgment,"
presiding Justice Arthur Scotland wrote in his opinion. He added
that "it does not
appear to be anything other than pictorial ranting."
The appeals court dismissed a finding by Butte County Superior
Court Judge Ann
Rutherford that the teenager had made a terrorist threat against
MacPhail but let the
marijuana violation stand.
MacPhail said Wednesday she was disappointed by the ruling.
"It's unfortunate that that could be the interpretation," she said.
"It was clear and
straightforward to me it was more than just a painting."
MacPhail cited the teenager on Dec. 8, 1999, for possessing
marijuana while off the
high school campus during school hours. A month later, Ryan D.,
then 15, turned in a
painting for his art class that showed a boy shooting a female
police officer in the head.
The artwork also included the letters "CPD," for Chico Police
Department, and "67,"
MacPhail's badge number.
The art instructor found the painting "disturbing" and "scary" and
showed it to school
administrators, who then showed it to MacPhail.
The appeals court said there was no evidence the teenager ever
intended to show the
officer his artwork, Scotland noted.
http://www.sacbee.com/state_wire/story/3804909p-4830234c.html
