A prosecutor’s charge of second-degree harassment was facially sufficient for a man accused of spitting in a police officer’s face, according to a state judge. Davon Simmons faces one count of second-degree harassment after allegedly spitting at a New York City police officer, which hit the officer’s face and mouth, in October 2012.
Criminal Court Judge John Wilson (See Profile), sitting in the Bronx, on Dec. 6 denied a defense bid to deem the charge facially insufficient under Penal Law §240.26(1). The judge said that pursuant to the statute, someone is guilty of second-degree harassment when “with intent to harass, annoy or alarm another person…he or she strikes, shoves, kicks or otherwise subjects such other person to physical contact.”
