People v. Montgomery (James)

The People of the State of New York, Respondent, against James Montgomery, Defendant-Appellant. Defendant appeals from a judgment of the Criminal Court of the City of New York, New York County (Kate Paek, J.), rendered October 20, 2017, convicting him, upon a plea of guilty, of obstructing governmental administration in the second degree, and imposing sentence. Per Curiam. Judgment of conviction (Kate Paek, J.), rendered October 20, 2017, affirmed. The accusatory instrument was not jurisdictionally defective. It charged all the elements of obstructing governmental administration in the second degree (see Penal Law § 195.05). The instrument alleges, inter alia, that a police officer observed defendant and a group of 24 other people engaged in a fist fight inside the Staten Island Ferry Terminal; that the officer gave a "lawful order to disperse and leave ... multiple times as part of [his] official duty to keep the peace" but defendant repeatedly "refuse[d] to leave ... and instead continu[ed] running into the ... group of people" which made it difficult for the officer to "complete [his] official duty" and that defendant used "his hand to strike [the officer's] arm away from him and then r[a]n back into the ... group of people." These allegations were sufficient at the pleading stage to support an inference that, by attempting to maintain order in the terminal, the officer was performing an official function within the meaning of Penal Law § 195.05, and that defendant intentionally obstructed that function through physical force or interference (see Matter of Eric A., 66 AD3d 603 [2009]; Matter of Quaniqua W., 25 AD3d 380, 380-381 [2006]). THIS CONSTITUTES THE DECISION AND ORDER OF THE COURT. I concur I concur I concur Decision Date: January 18, 2019