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In Orem, Utah 70-year-old great grandmother Betty Perry pleaded not guilty to all the charges stemming from July 6th arrest.

Her terrible crime against all humanity and all that is called good? Brown grass, the most heinous crime of all mankind. At the sound of which mothers gather their children and run into the bomb shelter below the house. Ok, so it's not as bad as harboring weapons of mass destruction, but violating a homeowners association is no laughing matter!

Only July 6th, 2007 a Police Officer James Flygare arrived to issue her an official warning about the dried up lawn. During the encounter Perry refused to give the officer her name. She turned to go into the house to call her son to help sort out the matter when the officer charged her with resisting arrest, and according to Perry, hit her with his handcuffs thus injuring her nose. The police account maintains that she slipped and fell.

She was arrested and spent over an hour in a holding cell before being the police department realized there were other ways of finding out her identity without holding her..

Perry has never had any previous run-ins with the law. I guess this first offense was enough to go on her permanent record. Both the mayor and City Council have apologized for the incident. The police department has also stated that things could have been handled differently. The city attorney does not feel the same way as they are still pressing charges.

Perry had not been living in the home for the past 9 months and had the water turned off at her request. The city of Orem does have a shut off policy in place for people who are away for extended periods. I'm not even sure why this is still considered an open case. Certainly our forefathers didn't die to give us the right to prosecute old ladies for not taking care of their yard.