As a Chicago criminal lawyer, I am witness to occasional abuses of power by law enforcement in the decision to arrest and accuse a person of a crime. With the possible exception of disorderly conduct charges, in almost no other area of law does this happen more frequently than in the decision to arrest a person for resisting arrest or obstructing police. Too often police arrest and accuse people of these crimes because they are personally offended by a person's actions and want to put them through the expense and risk of a criminal accusation. Thankfully, Illinois Courts have taken steps to correct such abuse. This article briefly discusses the resisting arrest and obstructing a police officer law as well as the ways outlined by Illinois Courts to beat these accusations.
Resisting or obstructing police in Illinois is a Class A misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail, a $2500 fine, or both. Resisting arrest and obstructing a police officer are both found in 720 ILCS 5/31-1 and are vaguely defined as when one "knowingly resists or obstructs the performance by one known to the person to be a peace officer, firefighter, or correctional institution employee of any authorized act within his official capacity..." If convicted, the statute orders a mandatory minimum of 48 hours in jail or 100 hours of community service. Resisting or obstructing a peace officer can be a felony if there was injury to the police officer.
The problem with this law is that, because it is so vaguely written, it is easy to abuse. Recently, however, the Appellate Court in Illinois v. Berardi stepped in to particularly define instances in which the law does not apply. According to the Court's opinion, on April 3, 2009, Joseph Berardi went to the Canton, Illinois City Hall to request a copy of the City's annual budget. City officials refused to provide Mr. Berardi with the budget. After Berardi persisted, City officials called police. Berardi was arrested after he verbally disputed the policeman's authority to arrest him and he was charged with resisting police.
The Court reasoned that mere verbal argument with police about the validity of an arrest or other police action is not resisting or obstructing and threw out the charges. "Verbal resistance or argument alone, even the use of abusive language, is not a violation of the statute" said the Court. While going limp, forcefully resisting arrest, or physically helping another to avoid arrest would be violations of the law, said the Court, verbally arguing with a police officer, no matter how personally disagreeable the cop finds it, is not prohibited by the law.
Another way to beat resisting arrest or obstruction charges is to show that any alleged resistance was in self-defense. While a person may not typically use force to resist even an unlawful arrest, a person under arrest may use the amount of force necessary to defend themselves against an officer's use of unlawful excessive force. If the officer used unlawful excessive force against you, it probably is not the first time he has done so. In such cases, a subpoena should issue for the cop's disciplinary record. If the police refuse to comply with the subpoena, a written Motion to Preserve and Produce the arresting officer's disciplinary record should be filed asking the Court to issue a Court Order compelling the police department to comply.
Our nation is the first in history to be governed by the rule of law instead of the rule of men. While most police officers are professionals simply trying to do a difficult job the best way they know how, police who arrest and accuse people of crimes based on personal feelings threaten our greatness and should be vigorously opposed in Court.
Please visit my homepage for more on how to beat a resisting arrest or obstructing police charge so that you can go on with your life.
