Resisting Arrest in New York
In New York, "a person is guilty of resisting arrest when he intentionally prevents or attempts to prevent a police officer or peace officer from effecting an authorized arrest of himself or another person."
As you can see, this law is extremely vague. Resisting arrest can include a wide range of conduct including: pushing; shoving, kicking, flailing your arms, or trying to pull your arms away while the officer tries to handcuff you.
Resisting arrest is a class "A" misdemeanor, which means it carries a maximum of one year in county jail as well as a permanent criminal record. Accordingly, it is a serious offense and must be treated as such.
There is a loophole which can help you beat a resisting arrest charge. For a police officer to arrest you for resisting arrest, they must have a legal reason to arrest you. Therefore, if you can prove that the police officer had no right to arrest you in the first place, you can beat the charge.
Because resisting arrest requires that the police officer have a legal reason to arrest you, it cannot stand alone. In other words, you cannot be charged with only resisting arrest, because you must have committed another crime first causing the arrest. If the only charge you are facing is resisting arrest, you should ask your lawyer to move to dismiss the charge.
However, just because this loophole exists, does not mean you should resist arrest. You may think that a police officer has no right to arrest you when in fact he or she does. Or, you could be correct in that the officer has no right to arrest you, but you can get a bad judge assigned to your case who refuses to dismiss the charge.
If a police officer attempts to arrest you, your best bet is to be cooperative and to not make a scene. Now, this does not mean that you should give a statement to the police or say anything about your case at all. You generally should not say anything about your case. However, you should be polite and respectful to the police and not fight with them. If you feel that the police had violated your legal rights, hire an attorney to fight the charges and protect your rights. But nothing positive can come from fighting with the police. Further, even if it turns out that the police had every right to arrest you, if you are cooperative and respectful to the police, this could help you get a better plea deal.
Criminal Defense Attorneys Albany, NY
As you can see, this law is extremely vague. Resisting arrest can include a wide range of conduct including: pushing; shoving, kicking, flailing your arms, or trying to pull your arms away while the officer tries to handcuff you.
Resisting arrest is a class "A" misdemeanor, which means it carries a maximum of one year in county jail as well as a permanent criminal record. Accordingly, it is a serious offense and must be treated as such.
There is a loophole which can help you beat a resisting arrest charge. For a police officer to arrest you for resisting arrest, they must have a legal reason to arrest you. Therefore, if you can prove that the police officer had no right to arrest you in the first place, you can beat the charge.
Because resisting arrest requires that the police officer have a legal reason to arrest you, it cannot stand alone. In other words, you cannot be charged with only resisting arrest, because you must have committed another crime first causing the arrest. If the only charge you are facing is resisting arrest, you should ask your lawyer to move to dismiss the charge.
However, just because this loophole exists, does not mean you should resist arrest. You may think that a police officer has no right to arrest you when in fact he or she does. Or, you could be correct in that the officer has no right to arrest you, but you can get a bad judge assigned to your case who refuses to dismiss the charge.
If a police officer attempts to arrest you, your best bet is to be cooperative and to not make a scene. Now, this does not mean that you should give a statement to the police or say anything about your case at all. You generally should not say anything about your case. However, you should be polite and respectful to the police and not fight with them. If you feel that the police had violated your legal rights, hire an attorney to fight the charges and protect your rights. But nothing positive can come from fighting with the police. Further, even if it turns out that the police had every right to arrest you, if you are cooperative and respectful to the police, this could help you get a better plea deal.
Criminal Defense Attorneys Albany, NY
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