Robert Phillips
- Ref # CAC00115
- August 30, 2023
Exploring a Citizen’s Refusal to Cooperate, Probable Cause to Arrest Them, Use of Force and Retaliation
CASE LAW
Case Law and Legal Issues: A private citizen’s refusal to cooperate in an investigation does not provide an officer with probable cause to arrest, use of excessive force, or retaliate.
- Arrests
- Probable Cause to Arrest
- Refusing to Cooperate as Probable Cause to Arrest
- Excessive Force in Making an Arrest
- Retaliatory Arrests
RULES
- Absent the use of physical force or a submission to the assertion of authority, a person is not arrested.
- Qualified immunity protects an officer from civil liability when it is objectively reasonable for an officer to believe that he or she had probable cause to make an arrest.
- In determining how much force may be used in making an arrest, the severity of the crime at issue, whether the suspect poses an immediate threat to the safety of the officers or others, and whether he is actively resisting arrest or attempting to evade arrest by flight, all are to be considered.
- Arresting someone in retaliation for them having expressed an opinion or making a comment violates that person’s First Amendment right to freedom of expression.
FACTS
On April 30, 2019, someone (not named) observed a “dark ....
