From People v. Peterson, decided Tuesday by the California Court of Appeal (Justice Victor Rodriguez, joined by Justices Allison Tucher and Carin Fujisaki):
Defendant Bruce Peterson was convicted of stalking a politician and the politician's family. The conviction was based on: (1) Peterson's odd comments to the politician's wife at an open house event for a school bond issue; (2) his reposting on Facebook of a publicly available photo of the politician's family along with comments mentioning the open house event and the politician's children; and (3) his mailing of a rambling letter—criticizing local politics and containing a check made payable to "anyone who is not corrupt"—to the politician's wife. We reverse. On the specific facts of this case, we conclude a reasonable listener would not have found Peterson's speech or speech-related acts a true threat of violence….
In February 2020, Lafayette City Councilmember and former Lafayette Mayor, Cameron Lee Burks, and his wife, Julia Ackley, hosted an open house event in their home in support of a school bond measure. The invitation stated Burks was "hosting this event as an individual resident of Lafayette and a father of school-aged children." Peterson attended and had an "odd" and "stilted" conversation with Ackley, during which he noted it had been 22 days since her birthday. Unaware her birthday was publicly available on her Facebook page, she felt "unnerved," "uncomfortable," and a "little freaked out." Her "spider-sense" that something was amiss was triggered by his odd behavior and appearance; she described him as wearing a shirt with "children's handprints all over it" and a pink fanny pack.
In March 2020, Peterson reposted on his Facebook page a photo from Ackley's public Facebook page. The photo depicted Ackley, and Burks and Ackley's two daughters. Peterson's post stated, "A politician's family. I have never met the younger 2 girls." In the comments, Peterson wondered "where [Burks and Ackley] hid the girls" during the open house event. He mused, "They live near Burton Valley School. Considering the politician, Cameron Burks, has a different name than his wife, I wonder what their daughters' last name is?" He also described Burks as "one of the Mayor's [Sic.] who abdicated his throne. But remained in power, on the Lafayette, Ca. City Council." One of Burks's colleagues sent him a screenshot of Peterson's Facebook post. Burks was "alarmed" and "immediately felt" Peterson "could be a threat" to his wife and daughters. But Ackley acknowledged the photo reposted by Peterson was publicly available on her Facebook page, as was her birthdate and other pictures of Burks and her daughters.
