Understanding the Crime of Resisting an Officer with Violence in Florida

The crime of resisting arrest comes in two flavors. The first is resisting arrest without violence. The second is resisting arrest with violence. As you may already guess, resisting arrest with violence is more serious than resisting arrest without violence. Yet police officers are not always respectful of your civil rights when they initiate an arrest. If there was a dispute between you and the arresting officer, you could find yourself facing the charge of resisting an officer with violence. If you’ve been in an altercation with a police officer, it’s extremely important that you contact a Tallahassee FL criminal defense attorney as soon as possible.

What does it mean to resist an officer with violence? 

The state of Florida has various offenses related to resisting arrest. These include resisting an officer without violence, resisting an officer with violence, and battery on a law enforcement officer. For a prosecutor to convict a defendant of resisting an officer with violence, the state must prove four elements. The state must prove:

• You knowingly and willfully resisted, obstructed, or opposed a police officer by doing violence to them
• The officer was engaged in the execution of their legal duties at the time you committed violence against them
• The officer was legally authorized to execute the process of arrest
• You knew that the person was a police officer or a person legally authorized to execute the process of arrest

What is resisting an officer without violence? 

The crime of resisting an officer without violence is any nonviolent interference directed at police who are acting pursuant to a legitimate law enforcement action. According to Florida statutes, resisting arrest without violence is defined as resisting, obstructing, or opposing any law enforcement officer or other individual legally authorized to execute process or legal duty without doing violence to the officer. Should an individual be charged with this crime, they would face a misdemeanor in the first degree.

To prove the crime of resisting an officer without violence, the prosecution must establish the following four elements:

• The defendant resisted, obstructed, or opposed the law enforcement officer
• When the officer was engaged in the execution of legal process or the lawful execution of a legal duty
• The officer was a person legally authorized to execute process
• At the time, the defendant knew that the individual they resisted was an officer

Penalties for resisting an officer with violence 

The crime of resisting an officer with violence is considered a third degree felony under Florida law, even if the officer was not seriously injured or no weapons were involved. If convicted, you could face up to five years in prison, five years probation, and/or a fine of up to $5000. Such penalties are imposed on top of any punishments for the primary offense that led to your arrest.

Talk to a Tallahassee FL criminal defense attorney today 

Luke Newman, P.A. represents the interests of Tallahassee residents who are facing the charge of resisting arrest with violence. Call our Tallahassee criminal lawyers today to schedule an appointment and we could begin discussing defense strategy immediately.