What Counts as Resisting Arrest?

The California statute on “resisting arrest” covers more ground than you might think.

When most people think of “resisting arrest,” a pretty narrow definition comes to mind: a suspect physically resisting an officer who is about to place handcuffs on them. In reality, resisting arrest does not have involve any physical violence at all or coincide with an actual arrest.

Under California Penal Code Section 148, any deliberate action that an individual may take to resist, delay, or obstruct any officer of the law or EMT in the course of their normal duties can result in criminal charges. Some examples include:

• Deliberately standing in an officer’s way to keep them from reaching another person
• Going limp and refusing to walk to the police car when arrested
• Refusing to identify oneself during booking

Defenses for Resisting Arrest

In most states, charges of resisting arrest can be dropped if the defendant proves that the arrest was not lawful. (However, if the resistance was violent, charges of assaulting a peace officer would still apply and would have to be defended against separately.) However, in the state of California our Penal Code has no such loophole. Resisting any arrest—even an unlawful one—can still result in a conviction under Section 148.

If you have been charged with willfully resisting, delaying, or obstructing an officer of the law in California, you basically have two options for your defense:

Self-Defense: California law does permit individuals to resist arrest—even with violence or force—if they reasonably fear for their life due to the arresting officer’s unreasonable use of excessive force. As is true of the self-defense strategy for any type of charge, the key here is proving that the average person would have had a reasonable and justifiable fear of serious injury or death based on the officer’s actions.

Lack of Intent: Because the statute requires that the obstruction, delay, or resistance be willful and deliberate, another possible defense for charges of resisting arrest—violently or non-violently—is lack of intent. For example, perhaps an individual accused of delaying an officer by standing in their way actually could not hear instructions to step aside because of a hearing impairment, and did not even realize they were causing a problem. Or, perhaps an individual accused of shoving an officer actually tripped and the contact was accidental.

Get Expert Legal Help from Dan E. Chambers

If you are facing charges for resisting arrest, you may need two defense strategies: one for the alleged resistance or obstruction and one for the charge that you were originally being arrested for. Therefore it is very important to choose a well-rounded criminal defense attorney such as Dan E. Chambers who can craft an effective defense against all kinds of charges.