In this video, we’re going to talk about resisting arrest and how it isn’t always your fault. We’ll cover the different cases where resisting arrest might be justified and the different ways you can resist arrest if you’re faced with an unlawful arrest.
If you’re ever faced with an arrest, be sure to watch this video to learn how to resist arrest safely and without getting into trouble. Armed with the knowledge you’ll gain in this video, you’ll be able to stay out of jail and keep your freedom!
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Transcript
Speaker 1
00;00;00;02 – 00;00;00;24
Hey, everyone. Did you know resisting arrest is not always your fault?
This is Christina Williams with Just Criminal Law.
Speaker 2
00;00;07;15 – 00;00;08;19
And this is David Mann, legal storytelling specialist.
Okay. Resisting arrest – that always brings to mind like a car chase
in a movie or something where there’s like a huge extreme resisting of arrest.
But I imagine you probably don’t see that kind of thing too often.
And it must be something a little more minor. What’s resisting arrest anyway?
Speaker 1
00;00;27;04 – 00;00;27;16
Sure, resisting arrest can be as small of a thing as
you’ve been told, for example, ‘I’m arresting you for DUI’ and you refuse
to get out of your vehicle and the officers have to drag you out.
And then, you know, you put up resistance rather than letting them put you in handcuffs.
Speaker 2
00;00;48;22 – 00;00;49;03
Okay. So like, if you just so much as sort of
raise your hands up and say, ‘No, hey,’ and kind of like
move against them a little bit, that’s considered resisting arrest?
Speaker 1
00;00;58;26 – 00;01;00;15
Well, I mean, it can be, but usually you don’t see it in it with,
you know, that type of, you know, initial resistance.
Usually it’s just the persistence of not allowing them to do their job
like handcuffing you or, you know, making them wrestle you to the ground,
that kind of thing.
Speaker 2
00;01;21;09 – 00;01;21;22
Okay. So you led this whole thing off by saying,
‘But it’s not always your fault.’ I imagine this
kind of thing has come up with clients of yours where they get a resisting
arrest charge on top of the other charge, and then you’ve got to deal
with both of them. So what’s a story about how that maybe plays out?
Speaker 1
00;01;40;08 – 00;01;40;25
Sure. I had a client who was on probation for a DUI.
He shouldn’t have been in the bar. And an officer
who recognized him and did not care for him saw him sitting at a table at the bar
and the officer was there to arrest someone else.
And pointed to my client and said, ‘I’ll be back for you.’
And my client stood up from the table and started to walk out the back door.
Well, another officer asked him to stop and he stopped
and started talking to him about being there and being on
probation and how that was a violation of his probation.
00;02;21;20 – 00;02;24;15
And so as they’re engaging in an exchange, the initial officer
who told him, I’ll be back for you is done with the other person
and comes back to my client, but actually hits him and and starts
a physical confrontation with him now. You know,
you are allowed to use self-defense. An officer is not supposed to
initiate a physical confrontation. But in this particular case,
that’s what happened.
Speaker 2
00;02;51;20 – 00;02;52;23
Hmm. Okay. So clearly that…How did you know that that happened?
I mean, this would…I would imagine it’s just people, you know, telling their story.
Who who, who gets believed?
Speaker 1
00;03;03;06 – 00;03;04;09
Right. So we have, you know, the officers’ versions of what happened.
And luckily, we had witnesses who were recording the interaction on their own phones.
And so they sent us the videos. And that’s how we actually saw that the officers started the physical
contact here. Not my client.
Speaker 2
00;03;25;05 – 00;03;25;29
Wow. All right. So how did the whole thing turn out?
Speaker 1
00;03;28;01 – 00;03;29;27
Well, because we were able to gather witness statements beyond what
law enforcement gathered and put together a case for our client,
we were able to get a really good plea deal for him because the officers had
actually stacked on felony interference charges because they said my client
either caused physical injury or attempted to cause physical injury to the law enforcement officers,
although, you know, physical pain is considered a physical injury.
And it’s really hard to contest whether or not a felony interference had taken place.
But we were able to get a fair outcome for my client.
And, you know, we had to compromise. But he definitely was happy with his result.
Speaker 2
00;04;13;18 – 00;04;14;18
That’s great. So if someone finds himself in a situation like that,
which people do, how would they get a hold of you to help them out?
Speaker 1
00;04;21;29 – 00;04;22;13
Sure. We’ll include a link in the description where they can call, text
or chat with a member of my team, any time, day or night.
00;04;29;07 – 00;04;30;14
Here at Just Criminal Law, we know you only get one shot at Justice.
So make yours count.
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