Julie Bugmy was sitting on the verandah of her Broken Hill home when police attempted to arrest her for breach of bail conditions.
The attempt would lead to a "melee" between members of Ms Bugmy's family and police, and see her convicted of resisting arrest - a decision upheld by the Supreme Court on Tuesday.
Her lawyers were attempting to have the conviction overturned on the grounds the arrest on December 28, 2021 was unnecessary and unlawful.
At the time, the 56-year-old was facing one charge of using a carriage service to harass, menace or offend, over interactions she previously had with police.
One of the conditions of Ms Bugmy's bail was that she not contact Broken Hill Police Station unless in an emergency.
On the day of her arrest, she phoned the station, demanding police respond to her husband having allegedly being verbally abused.
After initially refusing to give details about her complaint or provide her phone number, Ms Bugmy threatened to report the constable to his superior and preceded to yell at him and call him insulting names, according to the ruling.
“I need to see police in 15 minutes. I need police down here," she said.
"Last time it took the police three days to come out. That's not good enough."
Instead, the constable entered a job on the police computer system for Ms Bugmy's arrest.
Ms Bugmy is the aunt of William Bugmy, whose 2012 sentence for assaulting a corrections officer sparked a High Court challenge over the impact of social disadvantage on an individual over time.
In Tuesday's ruling, Justice Helen Wilson said it was open to police to consider taking action other than arresting Ms Bugmy, but there was no obligation to do so.
"That is not to say that the decision to arrest was necessarily the best course of action, or that some other less confrontational course may not have been wiser," Justice Wilson stated.
"But the decision was within the police officer's discretion."
Justice Wilson ordered an amended summons for Ms Bugmy be dismissed and did not order any costs be paid.
During a hearing earlier this month, barrister Nicholas Broadbent argued the arrest was invalid because police did not take into consideration the relative seriousness of the breach, whether there was a reasonable excuse for it, or her personal circumstances.
Police admitted during a criminal hearing in Broken Hill Local Court they had detained Bugmy so they could further investigate the alleged bail breach, which Mr Broadbent argued was not a proper use of police power.
He argued the officer involved had other options to the arrest, including issuing a warning, issuing a notice requiring her to appear before a court, or simply doing nothing.
