Making Obscene Gestures

My question involves criminal law for the state of: Delaware

Hello friends,

I have two questions and would very much appreciate all help I can get. Recently, I was falsely accused of gesturing obscenely from inside my car by a woman. I believe (know!) that this is setup by my poweful former employers to prevent me from exposing fraud. They have unsuccessfully tried something similar in the past. The good news is that I have been videotaping my driving habits and behavior using remote-operated micro-lens from under the rear seat headrest connected to a video camera in the trunk. The idea is to 'catch' them 'setting me up' so that, Instead of fighting for a dismissal of the case, I would like to bring out the real facts of the situation and as well as the forgery and fraud, under oath.. The question is, in order to prove perjury and malicious intent, can I conseal the existence of the existence of recorded evidence during 'discovery phase', even from my own lawyers, and bring it out only after the testimony by the complainant? Will the judge allow me to present this evidence after my not having mentioned anything about its existence earlier? I figure that the judge will have no choice if I say that such evidence does exists at any stage of the trial.

Secondly, if I engage a public defender and plead 'not guilty' initially, can I then change and engage my own lawyers, at a stage as late as possible? The idea is to minimize tampering with my defence by my politically connected adverseries.

Thanks, in advance, for your help!

ar5

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Quoting ar5

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Recently, I was falsely accused of gesturing obscenely from inside my car by a woman.

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You either made the gesture or you didn't. Which is it? And what's the exact charge (statute number)?

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Quoting ar5

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I believe (know!) that this is setup by my poweful former employers to prevent me from exposing fraud.

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No offense, that sounds like a delusion. How do you imagine that your being accused of giving somebody 'the finger' is going to affect your ability to 'expose fraud', and why are you sitting on your hands instead of exposing the fraud in the first place?

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Quoting ar5

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They have unsuccessfully tried something similar in the past.

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So you've already disclosed the fraud, in which case this was unnecessary? Or you are choosing not to act, in which case they have nothing to be afraid of?

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Quoting ar5

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The question is, in order to prove perjury and malicious intent, can I conseal the existence of the existence of recorded evidence during 'discovery phase', even from my own lawyers, and bring it out only after the testimony by the complainant?

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It would be beyond stupid to hide evidence from your lawyer.

You will discuss discovery strategy with your lawyer.

Under the rules of your state it appears that your obligation to disclose is triggered by your request for discovery. I'm somehow skeptical that your lawyer is going to want to "fly blind" at trial without a darn good explanation of why you don't want him to utilize discovery for your case. If you choose to violate the rules of discovery, you risk exclusion of the evidence.

But if the evidence cleared you, there would be no need for you to spend thousands of dollars going to trial - you would show it to the prosecutor, prove that you made no obscene gesture, get the case dismissed, and be on your way.

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Quoting ar5

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Secondly, if I engage a public defender and plead 'not guilty' initially, can I then change and engage my own lawyers, at a stage as late as possible?

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Generally speaking, you can substitute a private lawyer for public defenders at any time. But if you wait until the eve of trial, you will likely find that retaining a lawyer costs you considerably more than if you retain a lawyer early, and you may find that your preferred lawyer(s) have other commitments. Note, you only qualify for a court-appointed lawyer if you meet the court's indigency standards, so you may not qualify in the first place.

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Quoting ar5

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The idea is to minimize tampering with my defence by my politically connected adverseries.

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If you think a private lawyer is going to conspire against you with your "politically connected adverseries" while a public defender will not, why would you want to use a private lawyer?

I can understand how having a video recording would show whether you did or did not make such a gesture. I fail to understand how such a recording will prove your former employer's involvement.

And what kind of crime would it be to make an obscene gesture??

How were you planning on proving this mysterious recording was actually recorded that day and was not doctored.:confused:

Disorderly Conduct in DE.

§ 1301. Disorderly conduct; unclassified misdemeanor.

A person is guilty of disorderly conduct when:

(1) The person intentionally causes public inconvenience, annoyance or alarm to any other person, or creates a risk thereof by:

a. Engaging in fighting or in violent, tumultuous or threatening behavior; or

b. Making an unreasonable noise or an offensively coarse utterance, gesture or display, or addressing abusive language to any person present; or

c. Disturbing any lawful assembly or meeting of persons without lawful authority; or

d. Obstructing vehicular or pedestrian traffic; or

e. Congregating with other persons in a public place and refusing to comply with a lawful order of the police to disperse; or

f. Creating a hazardous or physically offensive condition which serves no legitimate purpose; or

g. Congregating with other persons in a public place while wearing masks, hoods or other garments rendering their faces unrecognizable, for the purpose of and in a manner likely to imminently subject any person to the deprivation of any rights, privileges or immunities secured by the Constitution or laws of the United States of America.

(2) The person engages with at least 1 other person in a course of disorderly conduct as defined in paragraph (1) of this section which is likely to cause substantial harm or serious inconvenience, annoyance or alarm, and refuses or knowingly fails to obey an order to disperse made by a peace officer to the participants.

Disorderly conduct is an unclassified misdemeanor.

When I have seen such gestures equate to fighting words or actions likely to provoke a fight, they weren't from a passing car to someone on the street ... so, either there is a lot missing from this rambling tale, or someone stretched the statute a tad.

Or, no charges have been filed and someone's merely yanking the OP's chain.

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Quoting cdwjava

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When I have seen such gestures equate to fighting words or actions likely to provoke a fight, they weren't from a passing car to someone on the street ... so, either there is a lot missing from this rambling tale, or someone stretched the statute a tad.

Or, no charges have been filed and someone's merely yanking the OP's chain.

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I would guess that somebody is yanking somebody's chain. Who is doing the yanking and whose chain it is is the questions I cannot answer.

The price of Reynolds Aluminum stock is up today.

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Quoting jk

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I would guess that somebody is yanking somebody's chain. Who is doing the yanking and whose chain it is is the questions I cannot answer.

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Well, I sure hope that they are just yanking my chain and nothing more.

Here are the facts:

I was arrested by the PD of another town and was told that the warrant is for sexual harassment gesturing to a female pedestrian or to the driver of another car (not sure which) asking her to get into my car. Apparently, this has been going on for 4 months, on a daily basis, till she finally decided to file a complaint.

For the past 8 months the clutch in my manual transmission car has been broken and though I have gotten quotes from a few shops ($700!) I have not been able to get it repaired. The problem is, whenever I try to accelerate, at a certain point in any gear the clutch slips and the engine revs without delivering good power and the driver behind would get irritated and I have been managing to carry on slowly after raising my right hand to say "sorry". Most drivers seem OK with this but some do get upset, honk, or swing out to the left lane and speed away and a couple of them have given me the finger. I fully understand their dismay, I have been in their shoes before.

On a few occasions, some pedestrians have mistaken my 'gesture' as directed towards them and have 'waved back' courteously.

Yes, I can blow the whistle but it has to be in a court of law. It relates to theft of intellectual properties belonging to me and after getting rid of me from my job they tried to misappropriate my work by generating what they referred to as "critical data" which turns out to be provable fraud. They need to me take up a small job to "save your house" which would keep me contained but I have not complied. I have remained jobless. They need me out of this situation but not in a position to challenge them. Hence this setup, I believe.

ar5