State v. Stone

In its haste to establish a rule that a law enforcement officer’s order cannot be used to transform inoffensive conduct into an act of hindering, the majority transforms defendant’s obstruction of an officer’s lawful attempt to apprehend an escapee into a walk in the parking lot. I respectfully dissent.

Contrary to the majority’s characterization, the issue in this case is not “whether the failure to follow the officer’s command is, by itself, a crime.” 170 Vt. at 502, 756 A.2d at 790. It is, instead, whether the evidence viewed in a light most favorable to the State and excluding any…