Resisting Arrest -- Risks and Realities
You should always comply with an arresting officer during a lawful arrest. Resisting arrest generally only delays the inevitable, and resisting arrest can add another charge to your record -- more that you and your criminal defense attorney have to fight in court.
What if the arrest is not entirely lawful? Does that affect the resisting arrest case? While the vast majority of arrests are lawful, there are occasionally cases where officers use too much force while taking a suspect into custody or, even worse, charge someone with resisting arrest to cover up a clear-cut case of police brutality.
Such instances constitute a blatant violation of your civil rights, in which case you'll not only want a criminal defense attorney to help you fight the charges but a civil rights lawyer to help you address the civil rights complaint.
Resisting Arrest in Cases of Excessive Force
If you attempt to defend yourself against excessive force, can you still be
charged with resisting arrest? In the real world, the answer is "yes," although
in theory you should have a right to defend yourself against unjustified
physical assault. This is where civil rights, and civil rights lawyers, come
into resisting arrest cases.
While rare (most police officers are just doing their job), some rogue police officers use resisting arrest charges to justify or explain their use of excessive force, especially when a suspect sustains injuries while being taken into custody. Even if you do run and make an officer's job more difficult when they try to capture you by resisting arrest, s/he has no moral or legal right to beat you. Civil rights lawyers help you address this concern while your criminal defense attorney helps to defend you against the actual criminal resisting arrest charges.
Civil Rights Lawyers in Resisting Arrest Cases
If you're a victim of this kind of resisting arrest case, you'll want to secure
not only a criminal attorney but a civil rights lawyer as well. There are two
different legal issues involved in these types of resisting arrest cases -- the
resisting arrest charges against you and the excessive force accusations against
the police.
The criminal defense attorney and civil rights lawyer can each handle a different aspect of the situation for you. Civil rights lawyers go beyond your personal resisting arrest charges to try to stop future police abuse against others accused of resisting arrest as well.
While resisting arrest is always a mistake, that doesn't mean you have to let yourself become a victim either physically or through intimidation. Resisting arrest laws were rightfully enacted to protect police officers in carrying out their duties, but there are laws in place to safeguard you as well.
Don't be afraid to go beyond your criminal defense attorney and talk to a civil rights lawyer if you feel you've been a victim of excessive force or police brutality. That's especially important if you're facing pre-textual resisting arrest charges, and you feel that resisting arrest is little more than a justification for that excessive force.