Q: Can someone get arrested for resisting arrest if they are not commiting a crime?
The defendant was told he was not being arrested or detained that the officer just wanted to speak to him. The officer asked for the knife on his belt and the defendant said he'd like to keep it since he was not being arrested or detained and was not on probation and had no wants or warrants. The officer said ok you have that right. At that time a second officer came up behind the defendant and grabbed his arm and put it behind his back as he was saying he was taking the knife for their safety. At this point they say he tried to pull away and did a leg sweep bashing his head off the concrete and saying stop resisting. All the while the defendant was not resisting and was even saying he was not resisting. The officers then took his coat out of a vehicle he had never been in without a warrant or the vehicle owners permission.
A: It sounds like there is a lot going on and to accurately answer the questions, to get all the details, he needs to consult with a criminal defense attorney sooner than later.
1 user found this answer helpful
A: "Officer safety" is often used as an excuse for excessive force. For resisting to be a legitimate charge, the police officer must be reasonably engaged in his official duties. If he engages in excessive force, then resisting that unreasonable force (in a reasonable way) would not be a crime. A question such as this is extremely fact sensitive. Hopefully there was a video record of the encounter.
1 user found this answer helpful
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