Posted on 02/11/2006 9:05:58 PM PST by FreedomCalls
AN Australian tourist has been charged with assault after telling a Texas woman to stop talking on her mobile phone at the movies.
Pauline Clayton was enjoying a matinee screening of Brokeback Mountain in a Texas cinema when her day suddenly turned ugly.
The former Sunshine Coast councillor said about halfway through the movie, a mobile phone started ringing nearby, a woman answered it and started talking.
"I put one finger up to my mouth to shoosh her," Ms Clayton said.
"She ignored me - I then leaned across and touched her with three or four fingers on the top of her arm."
When the "very large" woman failed to end her call, Ms Clayton again touched her on the shoulder and that was when the woman exploded.
Ms Clayton said the woman stood up over her, started shouting expletives at her and then stormed out of the cinema, in the town of Webster, just outside Houston.
A short time later two Texas police officers walked into the cinema and escorted Ms Clayton out.
She said the police took her to the food bar and explained that the woman had accused Ms Clayton of "invading her private space". The woman had made a complaint of assault because Ms Clayton had touched her.
"They were very apologetic," Ms Clayton said.
"They were very uncomfortable."
Ms Clayton said the officers had tried to dissuade the woman from making a complaint and had even told the woman that if she did make the complaint, police would charge the woman with disorderly conduct and using a profanity for her outburst in the cinema.
The woman refused to back down and not only was Ms Clayton charged, but the woman is now also due in court after being charged over her behaviour.
Ms Clayton was issued a citation and will appear in a Texas court next week to answer the charge.
With the help of an off-duty police officer who saw the fracas, she is hoping to escape with only a fine.
In the meantime Ms Clayton said she was hoping to get back to see the second half of Brokeback Mountain.
If convicted, Ms Clayton who grew up in Victoria and once worked as a journalist for The Sun newspaper in Brisbane, faces a fine of up to $675.
She said she had been told a conviction would not affect her chances of re-entering the US. Police said it was a "little matter" and they would not be notifying US immigration authorities about any conviction.
I had to go to court for it before, and I just touched someone on the shoulder, NO punching i was on probation for a prior assault & battery(that one was really assault!) and ended up getting community service for touching someone on the shoulder. I know pretty lame.
Oh, never mind :-O
What in the wide-wide world of sports is an Australian tourist doing in Webster, Texas? You ask me, she went to Webster looking to pick a fight. ;)
Color me a bit surprised myself. I live about 10 miles from where this happened and no one I know has any desire to see Brokeback Mt.
On a different subject people who don't turn their ringers off in a movie are just plain rude to begin with. You can set it on silent, see who is calling, leave and call them back. Some cell phone users are very inconsiderate in this dept. I attend meeting where people are asked to turn their cell phones off or put them on silent before the meetings begin. I don't have a problem with that. Some people just have no manners anymore.
IMHO, there should be a standard "courtesy-area" signal which would instruct suitably-configured phones to turn off audible ringers; once such a thing became common, anyone whose phone sounded off in an area where the signal was in use would be subject to public disdian.
The signal would not block receipt of text messages, nor prevent emergency (or other) outgoing calls (though someone who made outgoing calls discourteously would not be looked upon kindly). It would, however, help people who intend to be courteous to actually do so.
Excuse me? I just spotted this the second time I read the article. Is she an illegal?
What do you know about Alvin?
Just what kind of theater are you going to, hoss? ;)
No, she's not. Illegals actually wouldn't care what the immigration officials thought of them and whether or not they had committed any crimes. It's just that a conviction of any sort will give immigration an excuse to deny you a visa on your next visit, even a tourist visa. John Lennon most famously was denied an entrance visa to the U.S. because of a marijuana conviction in the U.K. He later fought it and won I believe. He then refused to leave the U.S. for fear that they would deny him entrance again.
'scuse me?
That is an excellant idea!
Why could it not be done? Other than the cinema industry trying to run you out of business but it is a known fact that moviehouses make almost no profit on just the admission ticket. The profits come from refreshments that are horribly priced. When I do go with my young son we make a game out of how much stuff we can smuggle into the moviehouse and defy all the signs telling us not to.
Its like the old drivein movies, my whole family went it was a social event we looked foward to as children and we saw short funnies before a movie and not ads for an hour.
What the cinema industry needs to do is review the whole prcess, first off use short range cellphone blockers the house can furnish a vibrating pager if that person must stay in contact with the outside, secondly bring back the experiance of something unique like better seats, even having reserved seating would be a good idea like a skybox rental. For a fee you can have a section that is just for you. Sure its a story of the haves and have nots but todays society is fast becoming a lot of "haves".
Many multiplexes could have an exclusive theatre showing the same movie, no ads, no previews, better seats and strict enforcement of conduct concerning outside communication devices.
Sorry about the rant but I live in Alaska and out local small moviehouse is such an outdated joke, popcorn always makes me sick, drinks are watered down, screen is just short of a painted wall and the seats I think came from scrapped DC3's. Goodby moviehouses from me, I'll wait and watch on my widesscreen DLP soundsurround in my shorts in my recliner with the pause button handy, and closed captioning cause I'm hearing impaired.
No, she's not.
But one thing that is typically stressed on travel advice issued by the Australian government for Australian citizens going overseas is that fact that local laws should be respected (should be obvious, but Australia has just as many obnoxious idiots as any other country) and the consequences of breaking those laws. One of these in many countries including the US is that a conviction may well prevent you being allowed to return to that country. For a person who is intending to travel to the US again at some point, this is a valid reason for concern.
Why are the officers compelled to arrest the Aussie woman just because the fat bitch lodges a complaint? Can't they just use their own discretion and tell her to shut her hole and go home?
im with you bro
Why was the woman disturbed by the phone conversation? I thought BB Mountain was all action. No words necessary.
What sucks is, after all that happened, they both have to turn around and catch the tail end of the movie.
LOL
This is Houston we're talking about here.
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