With the
recent death of a civilian at the hands of police in Minnesota, the country is
reverberating. Protests—both violent
and peaceful—have erupted in major cities everywhere, including here in Michigan. People want to make sure that all police
brutality ends, and that a simple encounter with police does not end in
tragedy.
Police want to make sure that people don’t resist their commands and
thus turn a routine investigation into a forceful confrontation.
When a police
encounter turns into an arrest, even the slightest resistance from the
civilian can result in an additional serious charge commonly referred to
“Resist/Obstruct,” or “R/O.” This
charge, pursuant to MCL 750.81, is actually headlined as follows:
750.81d Assaulting, battering, resisting, obstructing,
opposing person performing duty; felony; penalty; other violations; consecutive
terms; definitions.
As you can
see, the Michigan legislature decided to lump all sorts of actions---assault, battery,
obstruction, together under this law.
So, a person who mildly resists an arrest (say by questioning the
officer) might be charged exactly the same way as a person who forcefully
resists (say by pushing or punching the officer). In both instances, the person faces very
grave consequences if convicted of this offense.
If headlines have you wondering about your rights, visit our website for more information.
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