Early one morning, Sergeant House reported to a motel 
parking lot and found Tony Weaver shouting obscenities at his spouse--who was still wearing her wedding dress. (Apparently, the couple had been married earlier in the day.)
House repeatedly asked Weaver to quiet down and advised him that, if he didn't stop screaming, he would be arrested for disorderly conduct. After those warnings were ignored, House radioed for backup and Sergeant Thompson arrived at the scene. When the officers attempted to arrest Weaver, a scuffle ensued and Weaver allegedly punched Thompson in the face and hit House's arm.
Charged with resisting arrest, assault in the second degree, and two counts of disorderly conduct, a jury acquitted Weaver of the assault charge, but found he was guilty of resisting arrest and two counts of disorderly conduct.
On appeal, Weaver challenged the disorderly conduct conviction, claiming that the exchange with his wife didn't involve any members of the public, and thus didn't fit within the law's requirement that there be an "intent to cause public inconvenience, annoyance or alarm, or recklessly creating a risk thereof."
After the Appellate Division, Fourth Department affirmed the conviction, Weaver went to our state's highest court.
Since a "public disturbance" can occur even when members of the public aren't present, and because the incident happened in a public parking lot, with a number of people in the immediate vicinity--including customers and employees of a mini-mart across the street--the New York State Court of Appeals agreed with the AD1. (It didn't help the guy's case that he chose to ignore the officers' numerous warnings, and escalated his belligerence.)
What a tangled web Weaver wove.
To view a copy of the Court of Appeals's decision, please use this link: People v. Weaver