Opinion ID: 2602415
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Arrest For Interfering With Peace Officer

Text: ¶ 30 The officers arrested Trane for interfering with an officer in violation of section 76-8-305, which provides: A person is guilty of a class B misdemeanor if he has knowledge, or by the exercise of reasonable care should have knowledge, that a peace officer is seeking to effect a lawful arrest or detention of that person or another and interferes with the arrest or detention by: ... (2) the arrested person's refusal to perform any act required by lawful order: (a) necessary to effect the arrest or detention; and (b) made by a peace officer involved in the arrest or detention[.] Utah Code Ann. § 76-8-305 (1999). ¶ 31 In this case, the officers had probable cause and statutory authorization to arrest Trane for interfering with an officer because Trane committed the offense in their presence. As the officers arrived, they noticed that Trane smelled of alcohol, swayed, had slurred speech, and otherwise appeared intoxicated. They also noticed that Trane was loud, acting in a tumultuous-type manner, angry, and uncooperative. Both officers believed that Trane was intoxicated and possibly disturbing the peace. As a result, the officers began seeking to lawfully arrest or detain Trane for these crimes. While detaining Trane to investigate, Dobrowolski requested that Trane submit to a frisk because Dobrowolski feared for his and Bushman's safety and wanted to ascertain whether Trane had any weapons on his person. Nevertheless, Trane refused to comply with Dobrowolski's order to turn around, place his hands on his head, and submit to a frisk. The officers then attempted to arrest Trane. ¶ 32 Trane, having been informed of the officers' intentions to frisk and arrest him, began to physically struggle with the officers to prevent them from frisking or arresting him. Again, Trane's physical resistance interfered with the officers' orders given to effect the arrest and detention. These acts were sufficient to justify the officers' arrest of Trane under the interfering statute. See State v. Gardiner, 814 P.2d 568, 575 (Utah 1991). Not only did these events occur in the officers' presence, but they were directed toward the officers. Because these events occurred in the presence of the officers, they had probable cause and were statutorily authorized to arrest Trane under Utah Code section 77-7-2(1). ¶ 33 Despite the foregoing, Trane contends that an individual should not be arrested for violating the interfering statute when the individual refuses to follow an unlawful order. Because Trane struggled with the officers in this case, Trane's argument presupposes that an individual can resist, even physically, an unlawful arrest or order. However, in Utah there is no right to physically resist either an arrest or an order of the police, irrespective of the legality of the arrest or order, so long as the officers are within the scope of their authority. Gardiner, 814 P.2d at 574; see also State v. Griego, 933 P.2d 1003, 1006-08 (Utah Ct.App. 1997). ¶ 34 In Gardiner, a case involving physical resistance, we noted that the justification for the common law right to resist an unlawful arrest or seizure had disappeared and that therefore the right has been repudiated in Utah. 814 P.2d at 573-74 (stating that right to resist unlawful police conduct rejected as defense to crime when common law defenses were supplanted by specifically codifying recognized defenses). Quoting the New Mexico Supreme Court, we stated: Self-help measures undertaken by a potential defendant who objects to the legality of the search can lead to violence and serious physical injury. The societal interest in the orderly settlement of disputes between citizens and their government outweighs any individual interest in resisting a questionable search. One can reasonably be asked to submit peaceably and to take recourse in his legal remedies. Id. at 572 (quoting State v. Doe, 92 N.M. 100, 583 P.2d 464, 466-67 (1978)). ¶ 35 The law prefers judicial settlement of disputes over street brawls and altercations, even when the lawfulness of police conduct is in question. Suspects should not be the judges of the lawfulness of police action, and redress of an unlawful search or seizure, e.g., an arrest not supported by probable cause or a detention not supported by a reasonable, articulable suspicion of criminal activity, is to be obtained in a court of law. Accordingly, the lawfulness of an officer's order or arrest is not determinative of whether an officer is authorized to arrest an individual under the interfering statute. ¶ 36 To determine when an officer is within the scope of the officer's authority, a court must decide whether the officer is doing what he or she was employed to do or is `engaging in a personal frolic of his [or her] own.' Id. at 574 (quoting United States v. Heliczer, 373 F.2d 241, 245 (2d Cir.1967)). In this case, Bushman and Dobrowolski were acting within the scope of their authority. They were called just after 4:00 a.m. by dispatch to conduct an investigation in response to a call from the clerk of a convenience store, complying with their duties as peace officers. The officers arrived in their patrol cars. Although it is unclear from the record whether the officers were in uniform, Trane knew that Bushman and Dobrowolski were police officers conducting a routine investigation and pursuing official police business. Accordingly, Trane had no right to physically resist the order to submit to a search, and the officers therefore properly arrested Trane on that basis. [4]