Court Opinion

ID: 9546356
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 17:28:14.140868+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:16:20.508884
License: Public Domain

Davis, J.,
dissenting: I respectfully dissent from the conclusion in the majority opinion that “ ‘official duty’ under K.S.A. 21-3808 is to be defined in terms of the officer’s authority, knowledge, and intent.” The express terms of the statute do not call for such a result and there are good reasons supporting a conclusion that it is the status of the accused at the time of obstruction that determines the severity of the offense.
K.S.A. 21-3808 provides:
“(a) Obstructing legal process or official duty is knoivingly and intentionally obstructing, resisting or opposing any person authorized by law to serve process in the service or execution or in the attempt to serve or execute any writ, warrant, process or order of a court, or in the discharge of any official duty.
“(b)(1) Obstructing legal process or official duty in the case of a felony, or resulting from parole or any authorized disposition for a felony, is a severity level 9, nonperson felony.
(2) Obstructing legal process or official duty in a case of misdemeanor, or resulting from any authorized disposition for a misdemeanor, or a civil case is a class A nonperson misdemeanor.” (Emphasis added.)
Subsection (a) of the statute emphasizes the knowing and intentional activity of the accused. Subsections (b)(1), felony obstruction, and (b)(2), misdemeanor obstruction, relate to the status of the accused at the time the offense is committed. Thus, I would conclude that the status of the accused, not the knowledge and intent of the officer, is the determining factor.
While knowledge of the charge or outstanding warrant on the part of the accused is not an element of the charge of obstruction, it would seem to me that an accused, most of the time, is aware of his or her reasons for obstruction. Thus, the status of the accused may have an effect on the actions taken to avoid arrest. In other *540words, an accused who attempts to evade a felony charge may behave in a way that is more dangerous to the public and the officer than an accused who is evading a misdemeanor charge. The determination of the offense based upon the status of the accused at the time the officer is exercising his or her official duty provides more protection to the officer executing his or her official duty. I would reverse the district court based upon my belief that the classification of crime under K.S.A. 21-3808(b) should be based on the actual status of the accused at the time he or she obstructs legal process.