Resisting an Officer Defense Lawyer in New Orleans

Resisting an officer is a criminal charge that is taken very seriously in Louisiana because there is a police officer who had to fight with the defendant.  That police officer will likely be communicating with the prosecutor, informing him/her how much the defendant was resisting and being difficult.  However, our criminal defense lawyers at the Barkemeyer Law Firm know how to neutralize this assertion and help our clients. Contact us if you need a resisting an officer defense attorney in New Orleans or anywhere else in Louisiana.

Resisting an Officer in Louisiana – La RS 14:108

            A. Resisting an officer is the intentional interference with, opposition or resistance to, or obstruction of an individual acting in his official capacity and authorized by law to make a lawful arrest, lawful detention, or seizure of property or to serve any lawful process or court order when the offender knows or has reason to know that the person arresting, detaining, seizing property, or serving process is acting in his official capacity.

            B.(1) The phrase “obstruction of” as used herein shall, in addition to its common meaning, signification, and connotation mean the following:

            (a) Flight by one sought to be arrested before the arresting officer can restrain him and after notice is given that he is under arrest.

            (b) Any violence toward or any resistance or opposition to the arresting officer after the arrested party is actually placed under arrest and before he is incarcerated in jail.

            (c) Refusal by the arrested or detained party to give his name and make his identity known to the arresting or detaining officer or providing false information regarding the identity of such party to the officer.

            (d) Congregation with others on a public street and refusal to move on when ordered by the officer.

            (e) Knowing interference with a police cordon resulting from the intentional crossing or traversing of a police cordon by an unauthorized person or an unmanned aircraft system (UAS). The cordoned area includes the airspace above the cordoned area.

            (i) For purposes of this Subparagraph, “police cordon” means any impediment or structure erected or established by an officer for crowd or traffic control, or to prevent or obstruct the passage of a person at the scene of a crime or investigation.

            (ii) “Impediment or structure” includes but is not limited to crime scene tape, rope, cable, wire or metal barricades, or the posting of uniformed officers or other personnel otherwise identifiable as law enforcement officers.

            (iii) “Unmanned aircraft system” shall have the same meaning as provided by R.S. 14:337(B).

            (iv) If the flight of a UAS into the cordoned area endangers the public or an officer’s safety, law enforcement personnel or fire department personnel are authorized to disable the UAS.

            (2) The word “officer” as used herein means any peace officer, as defined in R.S. 40:2402, and includes deputy sheriffs, municipal police officers, probation and parole officers, city marshals and deputies, and wildlife enforcement agents.

Penalty for Resisting an Officer in Louisiana

Whoever commits the crime of resisting an officer shall be fined not more than five hundred dollars or be imprisoned for not more than six months, or both.

When you are charged with resulting arrest, don’t look at it as a minor crime that you can walk free from. You need a reputable attorney from a firm like Barkemeyer Law Firm to represent you.

The State of Louisiana frowns against resisting a lawful arrest from a police officer. Whether it seems legal or not, don’t avoid it. Ask your attorney and friends around to come with you.

If you are convicted of this crime, you may end up with from one year to three years in prison. You may have to pay a fine of at most two thousand dollars. Sometimes, you may have both to deal with.

If you have been charged with this crime, you need the New Orleans Criminal Defense Law Firm, Barkemeyer Law Firm to represent you. For years, we have handled numerous criminal cases and defended a myriad of clients.

We will try every trick in the book to ensure that the consequences are minimized or reduced.

Resisting an Officer Lawyer in New Orleans

When you are caught for a crime in Louisiana, it is a crime to resist arrest. Under no condition should you be caught, trying to fight the officers that are about to arrest you. Follow them quietly. If on the other hand, you resist an arrest even when you don’t have a crime brought against you in the past, you should ask for your Resisting an Officer Lawyer in New Orleans to defend you.

What Not to Do When Arrested

There are some things that you should not do when you are about to be arrested, as it could worsen your situation.

Don’t Resist

When you are about to be arrested, it is advisable that you don’t resist arrest at all. It may be wrong. You may be innocent, but it is advisable that you follow. Don’t try to resist the arrest of any form. Don’t allow those around to try and fight off the officers because it could worsen your situation. You should consider getting a Resisting an Officer Lawyer in New Orleans if you are already in an issue like that.

Don’t Fight

You may have a black belt in judo, but under no condition should you be allowed to kick, fight or assault police officers. You may be a prodigy of Jackie Chan and can disarm those with guns, you should try not to fight back. Avoid showing aggression. If they want to handcuff you, allow them to handcuff you. All you should do is to contact a reputable law firm like Barkemeyer Law Firm to come and represent you.

Don’t Run

Under no condition should you attempt to run. Stay put. Cooperate with the arrest, and you will have better luck getting out without being in a body bag or having a reduced sentence.

Don’t Get into A Gun Battle

This is something we highly prohibit. Don’t ever get into a gun battle with police officers. You may end up crying for mercy, as you bleed on the floor. If you shoot an officer, there is a great chance that other officers nearby won’t mind riddling your body with a lot of bullets until it becomes mangled. Avoid such an urge. Go willing with them. If you made this mistake of engaging in a gun battle, you need a Resisting an Officer Lawyer in New Orleans to defend you.

Louisiana Laws on Resisting Arrest

Based on how you act, you may end up being charged with a crime of resulting from the arrest. Depending on if this is a repeat crime, you may end up spending some years in prison. How long you spend is dependent on if it is a first-time crime or a repeat one.

It is advisable to know that the charges that you may face, as well as the penalties that may occur, may be dependent on some things.

Have you committed a crime in the past? If you have not, you may end up with a slap on the wrist. It depends on your rap sheet of crime. If you are a felon, it may increase how long you spend behind bars.

Did what you do fall under the definition of resisting arrest by an offer, according to the laws? What we mean by this is if you were legally arrested or merely being taunted by the officer? It doesn’t matter if you are a felon or not, you have your human rights. These rights allow you to not be discriminated by the Police. Were you legally arrested? Why were you being arrested?

We have situations where you may have merely been scared of the police and your response may be seen as resisting arrest.

If it is merely an act of response, it may not be seen as resulting arrest, and you may walk free. People are normally scared of the Police and may respond poorly to being arrested by them.

The prosecutor has the job of trying to show that it was a natural response, and not a crime when you were arrested. The truth remains that a lot of prosecutors have a myriad of cases to handle, and may want to focus on high profile cases well. These prosecutors want to climb up the ladder of success and won’t mind focusing squarely on those cases that would give them such. Resisting arrest is not one of them. In some cases, the prosecutor may decide to drop it for one reason or the other.

If the case goes to court, the prosecutor can go ahead to try and prove that the arrest that occurred wasn’t legal.

He can also try to prove that you have not resulted in any way. If this is done, you are getting closer to either taking free, not being penalized, or having a criminal record.

In Barkemeyer Law Firm, we handle every case as important, and we will do the same for this. We will analyze the situations that surround such a charge being leveled against you.

One way to handle such a case is to try and stop it from going to trial by using a plea bargain.

This reduces the penalties and may prevent you from having a criminal record. The negotiations can be done by the attorney on your behalf.

You don’t have to incriminate yourself further. Contact us at Barkemeyer Law Firm.

We practice Louisiana resisting an officer defense in the following areas:

New Orleans Parish resisting an officer lawyer, New Orleans resisting an officer lawyer, Mandeville resisting an officer, Slidell resisting an officer, Abita Springs resisting an officer defense, Madisonville, Pearl River resisting an officer law, Folsom, Sun, Eden Isle, Lacombe, Livingston Parish, Livingston resisting an officer, Denham Springs, Walker, Livingston resisting an officer charge lawyer, Springfield, Albany, French Settlement, Killian, Port Vincent, Watson, Tangipahoa Parish, Hammond resisting an officer lawyer, Ponchatoula, Amite City, Independence, Kentwood, Roseland, Orleans Parish, St. Charles, Tangipahoa resisting an officer, Tickfaw, Natalbany, Washington Parish resisting an officer lawyer, Franklinton resisting an officer defense attorney, Bogalusa, Angie, Enon, Varnado, St. Helena Parish, Greensburg, New Orleans resisting an officer lawyer, Jefferson resisting an officer, Kenner, Metairie, Chalmette, St. Bernard criminal lawyer, Gretna criminal defense, and Montpelier.

Contact a New Orleans Resisting an Officer Lawyer

Barkemeyer Law Firm has success helping clients charged with Resisting an Officer. Contact our criminal lawyers to discuss your case.