Subscriber Benefit
As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe Now
A man arrested for acting disruptively in a casino has secured the reversal of his resisting law enforcement conviction, but the Court of Appeals of Indiana upheld his remaining convictions.
In 2019, security guards and Indiana Gaming Commission agents at Belterra Casino Resort received an alert that William Denney was being disruptive and threatening others in the lobby bar.
When they arrived, they heard Denney arguing with another patron and causing a disturbance. Security supervisor Paul Hammond noticed Denney was showing signs of intoxication, so he attempted to persuade him to go to a room in the casino hotel to sleep it off, but Denney wasn’t cooperating.
As the situation escalated, food and beverage vendors requested that security remove Denney from the bar. He walked out of the bar yelling profanities, and the security guards and IGC agents followed him out to the casino pavilion.
Denney was upset and making noise in the pavilion, so the security guards again tried to get him to go to a hotel room. Denney said he would leave the casino and walked away toward the parking garage, yelling expletives and causing a scene.
The security guards and IGC agents were concerned Denney would drive in his intoxicated state, so they followed him to the garage at a distance because he was being belligerent and threatening them.
Security discovered Denney sitting down and hiding between two cars.
Hammond continued to try to persuade Denney to go to a room, but Denney yelled at Hammond, threatening him. IGC Agent Brian Pennock intervened and offered to escort Denney to a room, but he refused.
Pennock warned Denney to calm down, but Denney stood and directed more expletives at Pennock.
Pennock then arrested Denney for public intoxication. As he reached for him, Denney lifted his arms up and “pulled away.”
IGC agent Steve Faulkner then intervened to assist Pennock, and they managed to get ahold of Denney. The agents handcuffed Denney and walked him to the IGC office.
Denney was uncooperative in the office and threatened the agents and their families, saying he knew motorcycle gang members who could go after their families. Pennock called the Switzerland County Sheriff’s Department, who picked Denney up and transported him to the county jail.
The state charged Denney with Level 6 felony intimidation, Class A misdemeanor resisting law enforcement, Class B misdemeanor disorderly conduct and Class B misdemeanor public intoxication.
At his bench trial, Denney claimed he was not being derogatory in the casino bar and didn’t say anything to other patrons. He also claimed someone had slipped something into his drink in an attempt to rob him.
Further, Denney claimed that he went to the parking garage to wait for his mom and sister to pick him up, and that in the IGC agents’ office, they were mocking him for having long hair like a gang member, which he played into.
The Switzerland Circuit Court found him guilty on all counts and sentenced him to an aggregate of 18 months, suspending all but 120 days that Denney was to serve on home detention.
Denney then appealed his convictions, arguing the state failed to present sufficient evidence. The appellate court disagreed except as to the resisting conviction.
“Denney contends his acts of ‘turn[ing] to leave,’ ‘pull[ing] away’ when Agent Pennock ‘tried to grab Denney’s arm and missed,’ and ‘tighten[ing] up’ when the agents had him on the ground did not constitute forcible resistance, Judge Nancy Vaidik wrote. “We agree.”
Judges Paul Mathias and Rudolph Pyle concurred.
The case is William H. Denney v. State of Indiana, 23A-CR-523.
Please enable JavaScript to view this content.