Opinion ID: 4542480
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Resisting Arrest

Text: In his deposition, Flagg conceded that he did not have probable cause to arrest Wright until he started “resisting.” This puts the cart before the horse. When an underlying arrest is for resisting arrest and nothing more, “the officers could not, as a matter of law, have probable cause to arrest [Wright] where the underlying arrest was not lawful.” Osberry v. Slusher, 750 F. App’x 385, 395 (6th Cir. 2018); see Ohio Rev. Code § 2921.33(A) (“No person, recklessly or by force, shall resist or interfere with a lawful arrest . . . .”) (emphasis added); see also Hoover v. Garfield No. 19-3452 Wright v. City of Euclid, et al. Page 23 Heights Mun. Court, 802 F.2d 168, 174 (6th Cir. 1986) (“[W]e conclude that [Ohio Rev. Code] § 2921.33 indeed forbids only resisting a lawful arrest and does not prohibit resisting an unlawful arrest.”). Because a reasonable jury could find that Flagg and Williams did not have probable cause to arrest Wright prior to his alleged resistance, they are not entitled to summary judgment that the arrest was justified. See Osberry, 750 F. App’x at 395.