State v. Griffith

This case arose out of a neighborhood dispute over a basketball game. On May 4, 1975, a group of children were playing with a basketball in an open area in an Everett housing project. The ball was bounced against the outside wall of the home where defendant lived with his mother. Defendant went outside, engaged in some harsh words with the youngsters and then grabbed the basketball. He took it inside and telephoned the police.

Shortly afterwards, two men, William Stillwell and Howard York, a neighbor, approached defendant's home and asked that the basketball be returned. Mr. Stillwell was…