opinion: EATON v. CITY OF TULSA
  No. 73-5925.
  Decided March 25, 1974
  Per Curiam.
  In answering a question on cross-examination at his trial, in the Municipal Court of Tulsa, Oklahoma, for violating a municipal ordinance, petitioner referred to an alleged assailant as “chicken shit.” In consequence he was prosecuted and convicted under an information that charged him with “direct contempt,” in violation of another Tulsa ordinance, “by his insolent behavior during open court and in the presence of [the judge], to wit: by using the language 'chicken-shit’ . . . .” The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals, in an unreported order and opinion, affirmed.
  This single isolated usage of street vernacular, not directed at the judge or any officer of the court, cannot constitutionally support the conviction of criminal contempt. “The vehemence of the language used is not alone the measure of the power to punish for contempt. The fires which it kindles must constitute an imminent, not merely a likely, threat to the administration of justice.” Craig v. Harney, 331 U. S. 367, 376 (1947). In using the expletive in answering the question on cross-examination “[i]t is not charged that [petitioner] here disobeyed any valid court order, talked loudly, acted boisterously, or attempted to prevent the judge or any other officer of the court from carrying on his court duties.” Holt v. Virginia, 381 U. S. 131, 136 (1965); see also In re Little, 404 U. S. 553 (1972). In the circumstances, the use of the expletive thus cannot be held to “constitute an imminent . . . threat to the administration of justice.”
  In affirming, however, the Court of Criminal Appeals rejected petitioner’s contention that the conviction must be taken as resting solely on the use of the expletive. Rather, that court concluded from its examination of the trial record that, in addition to the use of the expletive, petitioner made “discourteous responses” to the trial judge. The court therefore held that the conviction should be affirmed because “[c]oupling defendant’s expletive with the discourteous responses, it is this Court’s opinion there was sufficient evidence upon which the trial court could find defendant was in direct contempt of court.” (Emphasis supplied.)
  However, the question is not upon what evidence the trial judge could find petitioner guilty but upon what evidence the trial judge did find petitioner guilty. There is no transcript of the contempt proceeding since the proceeding was not stenographically recorded. The trial judge did, however, enter a “Judgment and Sentence,” and we read that document clearly to establish that the trial judge rested the -.conviction upon the use of the expletive only. For the single charge of “insolent behavior” specified in the information was “to wit: by using the language 'chicken-shit^ . . . ,” and the Judgment and Sentence, referring expressly to the information, records that petitioner was “duly and legally tried and convicted of said offense” and, further, that “the Court does now hereby adjudge and sentence the said defendant for the said offense by him committed.” (Emphasis supplied.) The Court of Criminal Appeals thus denied petitioner constitutional due process in sustaining the trial court by treating the conviction as a conviction upon a charge not made. Cole v. Arkansas, 333 U. S. 196 (1948).
  The motion to proceed in forma pauperis and the petition for certiorari are granted, the judgment is reversed, and the case is remanded for further proceeding not inconsistent with this opinion.
  It is so ordered.
  Assuming, arguendo, (1) that the information sufficiently charged petitioner for both use of the expletive and his allegedly “discourteous responses,” and (2) that there was evidence of the latter offense, reversal is still required, since the record fails to “negate the possibility,” Street v. New York, 394 U. S. 576, 588 (1969), that the conviction was based solely or in part on the use of the expletive. “[W]hen a single-count . . . information charges the commission of a crime by virtue of the defendant’s having done both a constitutionally protected act and one which may be unprotected, and a guilty verdict ensues without elucidation, there is an unacceptable danger that the trier of fact will have regarded the two acts as 'intertwined’ and have rested the conviction on both together.” Ibid. Cf. Stromberg v. California, 283 U. S. 359 (1931); Thomas v. Collins, 323 U. S. 516 (1945); Bachellar v. Maryland, 397 U. S. 564 (1970). And this principle is not limited, nor should it be, to cases in which the conviction may have been based on protected speech. See Williams v. North Carolina, 317 U. S. 287, 291-292 (1942). Here, the “Judgment and Sentence” not only does not dispel the possibility that petitioner’s conviction was based solely or partially on the use of the expletive, but plainly supports the opposite conclusion.
choices: involuntary confession habeas corpus plea bargaining: the constitutionality of and/or the circumstances of its exercise retroactivity (of newly announced or newly enacted constitutional or statutory rights) search and seizure (other than as pertains to vehicles or Crime Control Act) search and seizure, vehicles search and seizure, Crime Control Act contempt of court or congress self-incrimination (other than as pertains to Miranda or immunity from prosecution) Miranda warnings self-incrimination, immunity from prosecution right to counsel (cf. indigents appointment of counsel or inadequate representation) cruel and unusual punishment, death penalty (cf. extra legal jury influence, death penalty) cruel and unusual punishment, non-death penalty (cf. liability, civil rights acts) line-up discovery and inspection (in the context of criminal litigation only, otherwise Freedom of Information Act and related federal or state statutes or regulations) double jeopardy ex post facto (state) extra-legal jury influences: miscellaneous extra-legal jury influences: prejudicial statements or evidence extra-legal jury influences: contact with jurors outside courtroom extra-legal jury influences: jury instructions (not necessarily in criminal cases) extra-legal jury influences: voir dire (not necessarily a criminal case) extra-legal jury influences: prison garb or appearance extra-legal jury influences: jurors and death penalty (cf. cruel and unusual punishment) extra-legal jury influences: pretrial publicity confrontation (right to confront accuser, call and cross-examine witnesses) subconstitutional fair procedure: confession of error subconstitutional fair procedure: conspiracy (cf. Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure: conspiracy) subconstitutional fair procedure: entrapment subconstitutional fair procedure: exhaustion of remedies subconstitutional fair procedure: fugitive from justice subconstitutional fair procedure: presentation, admissibility, or sufficiency of evidence (not necessarily a criminal case) subconstitutional fair procedure: stay of execution subconstitutional fair procedure: timeliness subconstitutional fair procedure: miscellaneous Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure statutory construction of criminal laws: assault statutory construction of criminal laws: bank robbery statutory construction of criminal laws: conspiracy (cf. subconstitutional fair procedure: conspiracy) statutory construction of criminal laws: escape from custody statutory construction of criminal laws: false statements (cf. statutory construction of criminal laws: perjury) statutory construction of criminal laws: financial (other than in fraud or internal revenue) statutory construction of criminal laws: firearms statutory construction of criminal laws: fraud statutory construction of criminal laws: gambling statutory construction of criminal laws: Hobbs Act; i.e., 18 USC 1951 statutory construction of criminal laws: immigration (cf. immigration and naturalization) statutory construction of criminal laws: internal revenue (cf. Federal Taxation) statutory construction of criminal laws: Mann Act and related statutes statutory construction of criminal laws: narcotics includes regulation and prohibition of alcohol statutory construction of criminal laws: obstruction of justice statutory construction of criminal laws: perjury (other than as pertains to statutory construction of criminal laws: false statements) statutory construction of criminal laws: Travel Act, 18 USC 1952 statutory construction of criminal laws: war crimes statutory construction of criminal laws: sentencing guidelines statutory construction of criminal laws: miscellaneous jury trial (right to, as distinct from extra-legal jury influences) speedy trial miscellaneous criminal procedure (cf. due process, prisoners' rights, comity: criminal procedure)