Pittsburgh Resisting Arrest Lawyer
Most people have to take orders every day. Whether it’s from their boss, their parents, or their spouse, it can get exhausting, but that’s the way the world works. When a police officer tells you what to do, you should probably listen; however, there are circumstances when those who are stopped by police attempt to comply, but may not hear or understand what the police officer is saying. There are other circumstances when people are trying to do what the police officer says, but aren’t doing it in a manner in which the officer finds timely. For crises like this, these people will likely need a criminal defense attorney to stand up for them against the officer in a court of law. Sure, if you don’t listen to your parents when you’re a kid, you may be called disobedient; but when it happens in the real world and it isn’t your parents—but a police officer—it’s called resisting arrest, and it can land you in jail for an extended period of time. In many cases, these people actually are resisting arrest by running from the police or assaulting them, but more and more we are seeing cases of police officers abusing their power and arresting people for resisting arrest when it really isn’t warranted. Basically, it’s a crime to refuse to comply with a police officer’s legal commands. During my time as a Pittsburgh criminal defense attorney, however, I have had clients who were arrested for “resisting arrest” for not responding fast enough to a cop’s legal command, for not getting out of their vehicle fast enough, for not ending a call fast enough, and even for not waiting around after an accident for an officer after all of the necessary information has been exchanged. The main problem is that resisting arrest can turn a minor crime into a major one. Many times, other charges will be filed in accordance with resisting arrest to make the arrest seem more severe than it actually was. In cases where I see “resisting arrest without violence,” there are generally some serious questions that need to be answered so that I can get to the bottom of what really happened.
If you have questions about a resisting arrest charge, call Pittsburgh criminal defense lawyer Gary Gerson for a free consultation and learn about your rights as a citizen. Sometimes people catch cops on a bad day and vice versa; don’t let something like a delayed response to an officer’s command find you jail, paying ridiculous fines. Call today at 412-219-6875.
