Evading Arrest and Obstructing Justice

The crime of evading arrest is committed when a person flees (runs away) from a police officer to avoid being apprehended, detained, or arrested.

Evading Arrest, Obstructing Justice, Resisting Arrest, and Resisting Arrest by Force 

Some states have specific laws against evading arrest on foot. Other states have a general law that prohibits obstructing justice or resisting arrest, which includes running away from an officer (as well as other behavior).

Evading arrest on foot (sometimes called flight) is committed by knowingly running away from an officer to escape capture, detention, or arrest.

Obstructing justice is committed when someone knowingly hinders or interferes with a police officer when the officer is performing official duties. The person does not need to use force to obstruct justice. Any conduct that prevents an officer from successfully performing an official duty could constitute obstruction.

Examples of obstruction include running away from an officer who is trying to make an arrest, going limp during an arrest, or drawing a weapon during a traffic stop.

Resisting arrest is defined differently by each state. It may be as broad as obstructing justice, or more narrow, requiring specific acts. The name of the crime is unimportant; what is important is what behavior the law prohibits.

Resisting arrest by force. In some states, the crime of resisting arrest is limited to using force against an officer during a detention or arrest. Resisting arrest by force is usually a felony.

If the officer sustains any sort of injury, the defendant can also be convicted of battery against an officer.

Arrest and detention
Flight is not a crime unless the defendant has been detained or arrested. The line between a detention and arrest is not always clear, but generally, a person is under arrest whenever a police officer has stopped the person and the person is not free to leave. A detention occurs when a person is briefly stopped by a police officer. For example, a passenger in a car that is stopped for a traffic violation is detained.

Invalid arrests and detentions
In order for an arrest to be valid (to hold up in court), the officer must have a warrant or, lacking a warrant, reason to believe that the person has committed a crime and a legally-recognized justification for not obtaining a warrant. And a detention is valid only if the officer has a reasonable suspicion that the person is involved in criminal activity. But even when the original arrest or detention was invalid, a person may not have the right to evade or resist the arrest or detention.

On the other hand, if the officer conducting the detention or making the arrest knows that the person has not committed any crime but makes the arrest anyway, the officer could be arrested or sued for breaking the law. Take the example of an officer who arrests his brother-in-law on trumped-up charges in order to punish him for being unkind to the officer's sister.

 

Source: CriminalDefenseLawyer

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