Resisting an Officer in Jefferson Parish

Revised Statutes La RS 14:108 is the law in Louisiana that deals with Resisting an Officer.

Resisting an Officer occurs when you hinder an officer of the law from doing what he has been ordered or empowered to do by a court order or by the law in force that confers certain powers and privileges on the officer. This might be done directly or indirectly, that is to say, you can hinder an officer from performing his duty, carrying out an order of the court, or exercising his legal powers in a direct way or in an indirect manner.

Elements That Amounts To Resisting an Officer in Jefferson Parish

To be found guilty of resisting an officer of the law there are ingredients/elements that must be proved, these elements are essential to the standing of the case because if so much as one of them is not proved by the person in charge of prosecuting you the case against you will not stand in court, these elements are:

You knew that the person that you were resisting was an Officer of the Law at the time in question

That you knew the person was executing a legal order or exercising a legal power at the time you resisted said Officer.

That you knowingly and willfully prevented the officer of the Law from exercising such legal power or executing such legal order at the time in question or you ought to have known that your actions stopped the officer of the Law from carrying out his duty as a reasonable man ought to have known.

You took actions in a direct manner or in an indirect manner that amounted to you resisting the Officer of the Law.

Your actions and decisions prevented the Officer from performing his duty.

Examples of Resisting an Officer of the Law

An Officer of the law approached you with a lawful arrest order and you ran in order to prevent the officer from arresting you

You were approached by an officer of the law while you were doing something that seemed suspicious or you were breaking the law and the officer attempts to stop you but you continue doing that thing and do not allow the officer to stop you.

Police officers or officers of the Law come to your house and show you a valid search warrant and requested that you step aside so that they will search your premises but you block the way and refuse to move, this amounts to Resisting an Officer of the Law.

Some Possible Punishments For Resisting an Officer of the Law

Usually, when a piece or body of laws prohibits the doing of something and you do that thing there are consequences and punishments in place to discourage you from doing that thing again and punishes you for what you have already done. The extant laws in Louisiana make provision for possible consequences and penalties when you contravene the law regarding resisting a law officer. The penalty depends on the extent of your resistance. Did you use force or violence? This and other factors can add to the extent of your penalties. The possible punishments are:

You could face jail time of up to 6 months.

You could be fined up to $500.

You could be fined and imprisoned.

Some Legal Defenses that Could be Used for you Against a Charge of Resisting an Officer of the Law

You could be convicted of Resisting an Officer in Gretna, Metairie and Kenner of you do not have the right defense or defense Attorneys like those at Barkemeyer Law Firm, some of the defenses are:

You can argue that at the time the Officer of the law tried to arrest you or perform his legal duty or execute a lawful order you became afraid and reacted in a natural manner but that reaction was confused by the authorities with resisting arrest or an Officer of the Law.

You can also put up the defense that at the time you were approached by the officer of the law there was no legal ground for you to be arrested so you resisted.

 Another defense to resisting an Officer is the fact that you were exercising your constitutional right to self-defense.

You can argue that you did not resist the law Officer and that the charge has no basis.

A defense is that you were accused falsely of committing the crime.

You can also argue an honest mistake.

For your understanding of what it means to resist an Officer to be well-grounded, we are going to discuss certain things in more detail below. These should aid your understanding of Resisting an Officer in Jefferson Parish:

What it means to Resist an Officer of the law in Jefferson Parish.

The ingredients that must be present for a case of Resisting an Officer to succeed.

The possible penalties of Resisting an Officer according to the provisions of the Law.

What it Means To Resist an Officer of Law in Jefferson Parish

This simply means you act in a way willfully and knowingly that hinders an Officer of the law from performing his duty or carrying out an order that is directed towards you and requires your compliance in order for the officer to achieve the objectives of such order or law.

The ingredients that must be present for a case of Resisting an Officer to succeed

The essential ingredients to prove in a case of Resisting an Officer are:

You knew or the Officer revealed himself to you.

The Officer had legal standing to exercise his power or carry out a legal order.

You acted in a way that made the Officer unable to perform his duty or carry out the legal order.

You were fully aware of what you were doing.

The possible penalties of Resisting an Officer according to the provisions of the Law

You can be imprisoned for up to 6 months depending on the circumstances of the case.

You can be fined for up to $500.

Both of the above can be your sentence.