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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Feb 2010
    Posts
    233

    Default Possible DUI, Resisting Arrest

    My question involves criminal law for the state of:

    I'm sure this LEO was well within his right to administer the necessary force to control the situation even though the female suspect was handcuffed behind her back, but what are the parameters of "resisting arrest?" It is clear that she was a threat to the officer and he had every right to protect himself.

    http://www.sott.net/articles/show/21...e-of-Incident-

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    California
    Posts
    20,594

    Default Re: Possible Dui.resisting Arrest

    It would appear that he used too much force to slam her into the wall. While it is natural to turn someone into a fixed object (car or wall, usually), an officer must be able to control that anger and direct the force appropriately. However, accidents DO happen.

    I have misjudged the distance when taking subjects to the ground and on two occasions int he last few years I have knocked one guy into an exterior wall at the hospital head first causing a nice gash, and slammed another woman's head into a wall inside the hospital just a couple months ago. Both were attempts to control the person (the former was already cuffed and resisting, the latter was NOT cuffed and resisting) and as part of that I executed a sweep maneuver to take them down and ended up spinning them into the wall. I do not see this situation or necessity present in the DPS Trooper's situation, however. Though, I do understand it.

    Absent some prior history of brutality, I believe the trooper intended only to quickly control the woman but found himself pinning her into the wall harder than he had intended. Combine that with the angle she was moved and the presence of a small ledge in the freeway wall, and you get an injury even if only a little force had been applied. I believe this was an accident, though one that will inevitably result in civil damages against the DPS even if it may not result in a successful criminal prosecution. If the DA pursues it, it is likely because he feels the political pressure to do so and not necessarily because he believed there was any malicious intent. I suspect the state may have a difficult time meeting its burden unless there is a history with this officer. A civil claim, certainly ... a criminal one? Maybe not.

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