Dear Jon:

About a week ago, me and a couple of friends went for dinner and drinks on Halsted. I know we had a lot to drink, but I still remember most everything. As we walked towards Charlie's we cut through the Walgreen's parking lot when a Police Officer yelled at us from his car and told us to come over to him. He asked what we were we up to. My friend Karl said "about 8 inches," and everyone laughedexcept the cop. He stormed out of his car, grabbed me by the arm, called us names and asked if we were looking for trouble. Because he was clearly out of his mind, I pulled my arm away from his grasp and took a step backward. At this point he really lost it and ordered me up against his car. He cuffed me, put me in the back seat and took me to the station. He charged me with resisting arrest. How can this be? What should I do? This guy is just an asshole!

--David

Dear David:

Well you are certainly correct in the last sentence of your question. Sounds to me like it was the cop that was "looking for trouble." But it doesn't sound to me like you committed any offense.

A person commits the offense of resisting arrest when he or she "knowingly resists or obstructs the performance by one known to the person to be a peace officer.

"Resistance" is defined as "withstanding the force or effect of, or the exertion of oneself to counteract or defeat" [the arrest]. Resisting arrest is a Class A misdemeanor and may result in up to 364 days in jail.

Resisting a police officer can be committed by pulling or running away from the officer, however mere argument with a policeman about the validity of an arrest is not enough to violate the statute. Some physical act which impedes, hinders, interrupts, prevents or delays performance of the officer's duty is required.

Further, there must be a conscious awareness that the conduct will impede the officer from performing his duties. For instance, acts of struggling and wrestling with a cop are physical acts constituting resistance and will support a conviction for resisting a peace officer even where the underlying attempted arrest was unwarranted. But there needs to be an arrest.

In a situation similar to yours, courts have found resisting arrest occurred where the defendant pulled away from and struggled with an arresting officer while another officer was trying to keep the defendant against the trunk of a car so handcuffs could be placed on him. But your case is different in that the officer was not attempting to place you under arrest at all.

But my true opinion is that Karl's joke about 8 inches triggered a deep sense of envy within the officer's psyche which manifested itself in his violent behavior. In other words, the officer has a tiny one.

--Jon