Sunday, December 9, 2018

Defending Yourself Against A Charge Of Resisting Arrest NJ Law Enforcement Brings

By Thomas Cooper


The current administration has created a lot of strong feelings when it comes to its attitudes and policies. There are protesters making signs, showing up at rallies and taking to the streets. When officials try to break up demonstrations, innocent protesters can get caught in the crosshairs and be accused of resisting arrest NJ law enforcement will try to prove.

You can be accused if you do not obey an officer's instructions exactly in the middle of a tense situation. If you are seen as a resistor, you can be arrested and jailed although what you did was not really unlawful. You need to understand that it is up to the prosecution to prove a case against you. They must prove that you understood the individual you had the conflict with was in fact a real police officer. The prosecution must prove the officer acted legally and your behavior was intentional.

The most common ways protesters resist officers is by struggling or fighting when law enforcement attempts to detain them. You might lay down, sit down, or go limp when an officer tries to remove you from an area. You could also be arrested for giving a fake name or bogus information when an officer asks you to verify who you are and whether or not you have the right to be in a certain space.

There can be serious repercussions for anyone resisting arrest. A misdemeanor charge comes with a penalty of a year in jail and a fine as high as 4,000 dollars, depending on the state you live in. You may have to see a probation officer for five years and cannot be charged with the same offense while on probation.

If the charge is considered a felony, and you are convicted, you will face as much as three years in jail. If you were arrested in Louisiana, you could go to jail for ten years. There is a fine of up to ten thousand dollars attached to this conviction. You will have to check in with your parole officer once a month or once a week.

It is in your favor that it's hard to prove someone was intentionally resisting arrest. You can argue that excessive force was used and that you were protecting yourself and acting in self-defense. You can also say that the officer in question had no right to arrest you because he was not authorized.

You could argue that the police report did not accurately state the facts. Openly accusing a police officer of lying can backfire on you though. It is a better idea to present your case as one in which you state that the report distorts the facts as you remember them.

Another argument is you did not pose any real threat or potential harm. Yelling at a police officer or running away, without actually doing any harm, can be a valid argument. Whatever your defense, it takes a good lawyer, on your side, to argue it.




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