People v. Arendas CA3

I. BACKGROUND

Defendant faced a single charge of making criminal threats (§ 422) for his role in a confrontation with James, a security officer at Mercy Medical Center. On the day of the incident, James was called to the emergency room after staff reported that defendant was “acting out.” James saw defendant sitting in the lobby, speaking to some women. The women looked like the conversation was making them uncomfortable. When James asked defendant to mind his own business and not speak to others about their medical conditions, defendant became agitated. Defendant raised his voice and called James names. James testified that although he knew defendant was a patient, aggressive behavior is not tolerated under hospital policy. James asked defendant to leave and defendant refused. Defendant became more aggressive and angrier and James requested assistance from other members of the security team. Defendant repeatedly refused to leave, yelled, swore, and, at one point, took a threatening posture and moved close enough to strike James. When defendant finally agreed to leave, James and the security team followed him to make sure that defendant left the property. Defendant was “extremely…