California PEN 148 (a)(1) makes it unlawful to deliberately resist, delay, or obstruct a peace officer, public official, or emergency medical technician (EMT) from performing their lawful duties. The legal definition of resisting arrest is nuanced. It extends beyond the physical resistance of an arrest to include any action that delays or obstructs a peace officer from performing lawful duties. Discussed below are the elements, prohibited behaviors, legal penalties, and defenses for resisting arrest to help you thoroughly understand the definition of the crime.
California Resisting Arrest Legal Definition
PEN 148(a)(1) defines resisting arrest. The definition is not restricted to making an arrest only. Obstructing or delaying the performance of official duties by a peace or public officer amounts to resisting arrest. For instance, preventing an EMT from accessing a patient is resisting arrest.
The prosecutor secures a guilty verdict for resisting arrest by demonstrating all the elements or aspects of the violation beyond a reasonable doubt. Each component is a cornerstone of the offense and must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt for you to be found guilty. The court will drop the charges if the prosecutor cannot prove one of these elements. The aspects the prosecutor must prove are:
You Willfully Resisted, Delayed, or Foiled
Acting willfully means doing something intentionally or on purpose. The prosecutor is not focused on proving you knew your actions were illegal or that you planned on breaking the law. Instead, they focus on your actions interpreted as resisting, delaying, or obstructing the law. For instance, if you willfully limp when arresting officers are taking you to their car to delay arrest, your actions will be deemed to be intentional and unlawful. However, when you accidentally pass out or become unconscious and cannot stand during an arrest, your actions are not willful, making you innocent of resisting arrest.
Arguing that you delayed or resisted arrest is vague. The prosecutor must present evidence of the prohibited behavior that you intentionally engaged in. The most common conduct that amounts to resisting arrest is engaging in a physical struggle with the arresting officers during handcuffing or when being taken to the police vehicle.
However, other forms of conduct are prohibited under PEN 148(a)(1), such as fleeing on foot at a sobriety checkpoint or after a traffic stop. Such conduct is considered delaying arrest, as it prevents the officers from conducting investigations or performing official duties.
Obstructing the performance of lawful duties, including:
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Giving a false name
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Furnishing the officer with misleading or false information
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Interfering with the travel means of law enforcement to a crime or accident scene
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Obstructing officers from cross-examining a witness
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Attempting to interrupt law enforcers while they are monitoring a suspect
The Victim of Your Prohibited Behavior Was an EMT or Peace Officer Undertaking Lawful Duties
Another element the prosecutor must demonstrate beyond a reasonable doubt is that the person you delayed or obstructed from performing official duties was an EMT, public official, or peace officer. If the officer did not perform official duties, your arrest would be illegal, and the charges against you would be dropped. For instance, when you resist arrest after officers try to take you into custody using excessive force or without probable cause that you were committing a crime, then their actions are not lawful and are outside the scope of their employment. Under these circumstances, you cannot face resisting arrest charges.
You Knew or Ought to Have Known Your Conduct Interfered with the Performance of Lawful Duties
The DA or prosecutor should also demonstrate that you were aware or should have known the victim was engaging in lawful duties. If the officer was in official uniform or a clearly marked vehicle, proving this element is usually straightforward for the prosecutor. Nevertheless, differentiating peace officers from civilians can be difficult when they are in plainclothes. If an ordinary person in your situation had identified the officers as engaging in lawful duties, you would be guilty. However, you will be innocent if the prosecutor cannot prove that an ordinary individual in your position would not have differentiated the officials from civilians.
Crucial Evidence in Resisting Arrest Charges
The law provides that law enforcers must have probable cause to make a lawful arrest. Any arrest made without probable cause is unlawful, and charges based on these arrests do not hold in court. You can challenge the legality of an arrest and subsequent charges by presenting evidence to show that the arrest was not conducted according to the procedures set by the law. The crucial evidence you require to challenge an arrest includes:
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The Police Report
An arresting officer or officers must give statements regarding an arrest and the surrounding circumstances. Also, they interview witnesses, the victim, and the alleged offender. They compile all this information and evidence gathered in a police report. Unfortunately, officers can lie in their statements regarding an arrest. If their statements contradict those of the witnesses, you can challenge the legality of your arrest or the entire investigation with the help of an attorney. However, you must hire a criminal defense attorney early in the case to interview the witnesses and gather evidence to contest the statements by the police.
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Video Footage Evidence
Today, police cars are fitted with dash cameras that record all events. Again, officers have body cameras that record interactions with suspects. Therefore, if you suspect your arrest was unlawful, you can request footage from the body and dash cams to prove your claims. If these videos are unavailable, you can obtain videos from bystanders who recorded your arrest to prove an illegality, such as the application of excessive force.
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The Personnel File of the Officer Who Apprehended You
Many police officers who engage in misconduct during arrest have a history of the same behavior, and it is possible someone previously filed a complaint against them. Your attorney can file a Pitchess motion, requesting access to the officer’s personnel file. If the file has many complaints or reported incidents of misconduct, it will be easy for the court to believe your side of the story that the officer engaged in misconduct during the arrest.
Resisting Arrest Plea Deals
A plea deal or bargain is a contract between you, the defendant, and the prosecutor. You agree to plead guilty to the resisting arrest charges, and in return, the prosecutor imposes lesser charges and penalties. Your defense attorney should initiate the negotiations. If your arguments are compelling and the DA accepts the plea deal, you can receive lesser charges like trespassing or disturbing the peace.
The prosecutor does not want to invest time and resources in a case they will likely lose in the trial. Therefore, a favorable plea deal gives the opposing sides what they need in exchange for a settlement. The prosecutor only agrees to a deal if they have a weak case and fear embarrassment. So, let your attorney make an offer, and if it is accepted, you will face less stringent charges and penalties.
Legal Penalties for California Resisting Arrest
The prosecutor files a resisting arrest offense as a misdemeanor. When found guilty of the charges, the legal penalties you will face are:
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At most twelve months of jail incarceration
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Substantial court fines of no more than $1,000
Alternatively, the judge can impose summary or misdemeanor probation instead of the jail term. The misdemeanor probationary terms include community labor, mandatory counseling, or enrollment and completion of anger management classes.
Also, a conviction for resisting arrest attracts collateral consequences that affect you long after serving your sentence. A guilty verdict leads to a criminal record, which law enforcement can see if you interact in the future, making your situation difficult. They could be tempted to use force for the arrest because of your past.
Besides, the record can lead to missed employment and housing opportunities. Property managers are more reluctant to lease properties to people with criminal records. Employers can also deny you a job opportunity or promotion because of a criminal record, despite your qualifications.
Many prosecutors are reluctant to charge defendants with resisting arrest unless:
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You are a repeat offender and have committed the same offense within a window of two years
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You made use of physical force or violence against an arresting officer
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The resisting arrest charges are linked to an underlying offense that the authorities prosecute
Contesting Charges for Resisting Arrest
A charge for resisting arrest does not make you guilty. You will have the chance to defend yourself in court to prove your innocence. You need solid defense strategies to secure a favorable outcome. First, you must hire a criminal attorney early in the case to evaluate facts, conduct independent investigations, and gather evidence to poke holes in or challenge the prosecutor’s evidence. Sometimes, law enforcement uses resisting arrest charges to justify the excessive application of force. Unfortunately, you could have a wrongful conviction if you do not defend yourself well. So, having an attorney to question the arresting officer’s credibility can prevent an unfavorable outcome.
The standard legal defenses your attorney can apply in the case are:
You Acted by Accident or a Mistake
PEN 148 requires you to have acted purposefully for you to be guilty. The prosecutor must prove your state of mind during the incident to show your actions were willful. It can be difficult for the prosecutor to prove this element beyond a reasonable doubt. Therefore, your attorney can challenge this element by asserting that your actions were accidental or unintentional. For instance, you accidentally fell or had a medical episode, like a seizure, and the officers misconstrued it as resisting arrest.
You Were Defending Yourself
PEN 148 (a)(1) protects peace officers performing lawful duties. A police officer using excessive force during an arrest is engaging in an unlawful act that is not protected under the law. If an officer applies unreasonable force, you can protect yourself using reasonable physical force to repel the threat. However, there is a standard for using force during arrest. An ordinary person in your position could have used the same force to resist arrest and prevent harm from the officer.
You are Falsely Accused
An officer can falsely accuse you of resisting arrest because they dislike your attitude or to cover up an incident of excessive application of force, racial profiling, misconduct, illegal detention, or illegal arrest.
When your charges are based on false allegations, your attorney can use witness statements, dash cam and body cam footage, or cite the officer’s record or history of police misconduct to prove the allegations are untrue. The attorney focuses on putting doubt in the jury's minds about the believability of events given by the prosecutor. Once the police raise the doubt, the prosecutor will not meet the evidentiary standard of beyond a reasonable doubt, leading to charge dismissal.
The Law Enforcers Lacked Probable Cause for Arrest
The Fourth Amendment requires police to have probable cause that a crime has been committed to make an arrest. Without probable cause, an arrest is deemed unlawful. Therefore, any evidence obtained is inadmissible in court if the arrest is illegal. So, your attorney should request the court to exclude all illegal evidence from the case. Also, they can gather evidence to show that the evidence presented is incredible and should not be admitted in the trial. When this happens, the prosecutor will be left with weak or insufficient evidence to proceed with the charges. Because they cannot satisfy the evidentiary standard in these cases, they will drop the charges or offer a favorable plea deal for a lesser offense.
Find an Experienced Criminal Defense Attorney Near Me
Resisting arrest is not restricted to physical struggle or resistance to arrest. It involves a wide range of prohibited conduct interpreted as obstructing or delaying an arrest, an EMT, a public official, or a peace officer from undertaking lawful duties. The penalties for the offense upon conviction are also harsh. Hence the need to defend yourself.
At the Long Beach Criminal Attorney, we understand the consequences of the offense, which is why we are here to defend you. Contact us at 562-308-7807 to understand your offense and how to protect your rights.