When you are arrested by law enforcement, you must obey their requests. If you try to oppose the arrest you could find yourself charged with an additional crime of resisting arrest. All crimes can be considered serious and sometimes you will be facing a separate charge from the one you were originally charged with. Your case may be more complex when you have more than one charge. An experienced criminal defense attorney will assist you in protecting your rights and defending the charges.
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What is Resisting Arrest?
North Carolina law has a broad definition for resisting arrest. The law defines resisting arrest as
Willfully and unlawfully resisting, delaying, or obstructing a public officer in discharging or attempting to discharge a duty of their office”. Resisting may be physical or non-physical. Resisting arrest is a Class 2 misdemeanor. If found guilty, the sentence may include fines, probation, community service, and, in some cases, incarceration.
Examples of Resisting Arrest
When you think of resisting arrest, you likely think of someone pulling away or fighting with officers in an attempt to stop the arrest from happening. That is one example of resisting arrest.
Other examples of physical resisting arrest include fleeing the scene, trying to hit, strike, or harm an officer, and struggling with or pushing an officer. Non-physical resisting may include giving a false name or information to an officer, yelling or swearing, or refusing to accept a citation. Resisting may also be charged when someone tries to block or delay law enforcement from doing their job.
Resisting May Be a Felony
Most forms of resisting arrest are misdemeanors. However, there are circumstances where resisting could be charged as a felony. The most common form of felony resisting arrest occurs when the person being detained physically harms an officer. For instance, if you attempt to flee the scene and, in doing so, run over an officer’s foot with your vehicle, you could be charged with a felony. Other charges would likely also apply in this scenario.
Defending Resisting Charges
Resisting arrest is a charge that only occurs when law enforcement is trying to make an arrest or is detaining a person. Therefore, there are other charges that may have occurred first to initiate the situation. You may be facing several or more charges. In some instances, you may not have had any charges once the police investigated the case. There are various ways to defend the charges based on the circumstances. You have to remember that law enforcement may have a video recording of the incident. However, in order for your actions to be considered resisting, you must have done something willfully.
Sometimes, your attorney may be able to get resisting charges dropped or dismissed. Some factors that may determine the outcome of the case include whether this is your first resisting charge, the type of crime you were being arrested for, and your criminal background, among others.
Resisting arrest can happen quickly if an interaction with the police escalates. Although you may be remorseful, being sorry for resisting arrest may not be enough to resolve the matter. A knowledgeable criminal defense attorney will vigorously defend the charges. If you or a loved one is facing criminal charges of any kind, we can help. Contact us today at Arnold & Smith, PLLC, at (704) 370-2828 to request a consultation.
The criminal defense attorneys at Arnold & Smith, PLLC make it their mission to zealously defend their clients on a wide range of criminal matters at both the state and federal levels. These matters may include any charge from traffic offenses; DWI/DUI; drug charges (from simple possession to possession with intent to distribute and trafficking); gun permit denials; weapons offenses; and property crimes (larceny, breaking and entering, robbery, fraud, embezzlement, white collar offenses); to sexually related offenses (indecent exposure; sexual assault, crimes against nature, removal from sex offender registry); and violent crimes (domestic violence; assault; manslaughter; homicide, murder). Other legal issues that Arnold & Smith, PLLC criminal clients may be facing include restraining orders, restraining order and probation violations, expungements; appeals; and immigration issues related to criminal charges. Our criminal defense attorneys are passionate about ensuring that individuals empower themselves by being informed about their constitutional rights, and stand at the ready to fight in the defense of those facing criminal charges.
Source:
https://www.ncleg.gov/enactedlegislation/statutes/html/bysection/chapter_14/gs_14-223.html
https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/misdemeanor
Image Credit:
https://www.freeimages.com/photo/restrained-1188171
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