Opinion ID: 1891198
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Defining Lawful Execution of a Legal Duty

Text: Because the prohibition in section 776.051(1) applies only to the use of force to resist arrest, the provision has no application to prosecutions for crimes against law enforcement officers under other circumstances. The Legislature has not expressly precluded the defense of justifiable use of force against an officer in situations other than arrest. For this reason, and because the Legislature has placed the element of lawful execution of a legal duty in both sections 784.07(2) and 843.01, proof that the officer was acting lawfully is necessary in a prosecution for crimes committed under either statute that occur outside an arrest scenario. In Taylor, the First District reviewed the sufficiency of the evidence on the lawful execution element by applying Fourth Amendment law governing warrantless entry by police into a home. 740 So.2d at 90. This approach is consistent with precedent reviewing convictions of resisting arrest without violence under section 843.02, which has a lawful execution element identical to that in section 843.01. See N.H., 890 So.2d at 516 (determining the officers were in lawful execution of duties in making investigative stop based on reasonable suspicion that criminal activity was afoot); Espiet v. State, 797 So.2d 598, 602 (Fla. 5th DCA 2001) (concluding that officer was not engaged in the lawful execution of duties when he entered defendant's house to make misdemeanor arrest); M.J.R. v. State, 715 So.2d 1103, 1104 (Fla. 5th DCA 1998) (concluding that because no exigent circumstances existed and defendant could have been arrested only for misdemeanors, officers had no authority to demand entry into residence); K.A.C. v. State, 707 So.2d 1175, 1176-77 (Fla. 3d DCA 1998) (concluding that officers had well-founded suspicion to detain juvenile for truancy). Gauging the lawful execution element by the law governing the duty undertaken is also consistent with precedent holding that the element should not be defined in a manner that takes the issue from the jury. In State v. Anderson, 639 So.2d 609, 610-11 (Fla.1994), this Court approved a jury instruction stating that effecting a lawful arrest constitutes lawful execution of a legal duty. In other cases, district courts have reversed convictions because of erroneous jury instructions that referred to the specific defendant in a manner that removed from the jury the issue of the lawfulness of the officer's actions. See, e.g., Smith v. State, 907 So.2d 582, 585 (Fla. 5th DCA 2005) (error to instruct jury that detaining the defendant constitutes lawful execution of a legal duty); Royster v. State, 643 So.2d 61, 65 (Fla. 1st DCA 1994) (error to instruct jury that arresting and taking custody of the defendant does constitute the lawful execution of a legal duty or the execution of a legal process); Starks v. State, 627 So.2d 1194, 1196 (Fla. 3d DCA 1993) (instruction that the attempt to stop Mr. Starks constitutes a lawful execution of a legal duty incorrect). We decline to adopt less precise standards that would inevitably bring subjectivity and hence greater uncertainty into the process for determining when an officer is acting in the lawful performance of legal duties. This is consistent with the United States Supreme Court's refusal to adopt a subjective reasonable officer test in determining the constitutional validity of traffic stops. See Whren v. United States, 517 U.S. 806, 808, 819, 116 S.Ct. 1769, 135 L.Ed.2d 89 (1996) (adhering to probable cause test for traffic stops and rejecting test of whether a police officer, acting reasonably, would have made the stop for the reason given); see also Holland v. State, 696 So.2d 757, 759 (Fla.1997) (applying Whren under article I, section 12, Florida Constitution). We similarly decline to adopt a more amorphous, hence more subjective, reasonable officer test for determining whether an officer is acting in the lawful execution of legal duties as required to establish the crimes defined in sections 784.07(2) and 843.01. Cf. Whren, 517 U.S. at 814, 116 S.Ct. 1769 (characterizing reasonable officer test as an attempt to reach subjective intent through ostensibly objective means). Therefore, in construing the lawful execution element of sections 784.07(2) and 843.01, courts must apply the legal standards governing the duty undertaken by the law enforcement officer at the point that an assault, battery, or act of violent resistance occurs. These standards effectuate the Legislature's intent in making lawful execution of a legal duty an element of these crimes.