Pen. Code § 148(a)(1); Resisting Arrest Pitchess Motions

• Resisting Arrest, per P.C. § 148(a)(1)
• P.C. § 148(a)(1) and a Defendant’s Knowledge that the Person Resisted Was a Peace Officer
• P.C. § 148(a)(1) and an Officer’s Failure to Act in the Performance of His or Her Duties
• Pitchess Motions and the Materiality Requirement

To be guilty of resisting arrest pursuant to P.C. § 148(a)(1), it is required only that the  defendant knew, or reasonably should have known, that the person resisted was a peace officer.  A suspect’s voluntary intoxication is irrelevant to this issue.  Detentions without a reasonable suspicion, arrests without probable cause, or an officer’s use of unreasonable force, fail to meet the P.C. § 148(a)(1) requirement that the officer is acting in the performance of his or her duties.  Pitchess discovery is inappropriate absent a showing by the defendant that the information sought is material to a disputable issue.

On August 17, 2017, just after midnight, defendant Tristan Mackreth got into a road-rage altercation with a woman named Lisa Ward.  Calling 911, Ward reported to police that defendant intentionally ran his car into hers, forcing her off the road.  Ward told the 911 dispatcher that defendant had been chasing her with his lights out and “totally sideswiped” her car.  Responding to this call, Sunnyvale Public Safety Officer Matthew Meyer—wearing a “standard police uniform” with a badge that was “readily apparent”—contacted a “very upset,” “hysterical,” and “confused” Ward.  He also talked to a bystander—Arthur Megoloff—outside a 7-Eleven convenience store. Megoloff told Officer Meyer that defendant was acting in a “threatening manner” and had gone “all nuts on me.” Per Megoloff, defendant had run into the 7-Eleven.  Officer Meyer could see defendant in the store ....