EDWIN BENJAMIN KAISER, APPELLANT,
v.
THE STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.
Edwin Kaiser was convicted of simple assault, obstructing an officer, and resisting an officer with violence after he walked away from and physically resisted a police officer during a traffic investigation. The Florida appellate court affirmed the conviction, holding that the officer had lawful authority to temporarily detain Kaiser for questioning about vehicle damage, and Kaiser had no right to resist or flee that investigation.
Officer Petrie had the lawful right to temporarily detain Kaiser for further questioning regarding the vehicle damage investigation, even without authority to arrest him for a crime. Kaiser had no right to resist this lawful detention by walking away or engaging in physical combat, and his convictions for resisting the officer with violence and obstructing the officer were proper.
[1] A police officer may temporarily detain a person for further questioning to continue an investigation, even if the officer does not have the authority to arrest the perso…
[2] A person may not resist lawful police detention or physical engagement with an investigating officer by turning away or engaging in physical combat.
Previewing 2 of 4 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“We conclude Officer Petrie had the right to temporarily detain the defendant for further questioning to continue his investigation, and it did not matter that he did not have the authority to arrest defendant for a crime at that time.”
Establishes that officers may conduct temporary investigatory detention without arrest authority
Previewing 1 of 2 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceOn December 28, 1974, Kaiser's car was parked in front of a neighbor's driveway, blocking the neighbor's family from leaving. Police arrived and Kaise…
The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.
Explore caselaw by topic → Browse Simple Assault cases and more on FLexlaw
PER CURIAM.
Defendant was charged with two counts of assault and battery, two counts of resisting an officer with violence to his person, one count of resisting an officer without violence to his person and obstructing a police officer. The jury found defendant guilty of one count of simple assault, obstructing an officer and one count of resisting an officer with violence to his person. The trial judge entered judgment in accordance with the jury verdicts, and sentenced the defendant to one year in the Dade County stockade. Defendant appeals the judgment of conviction.
The relevant facts are as follows: On December 28, 1974 the daughter and son-in-law of Mr. Erhlickman were unable to leave his home because defendant’s car was parked in front of the Erhlickman’s driveway and Mr. Erhlickman’s wife called the police. After their arrival, the defendant emerged from the next house and moved his automobile. Officer Petrie then questioned the defendant about what appeared to be newly incurred body damage to the front of his automobile. Unsatisfied with defendant’s response, the officer began to read to the defendant Miranda warnings. Defendant turned his back and began to walk away. Officer Petrie, his command to halt having been ignored by the defendant, came up behind defendant and placed a hand on his shoulder. At that point a scuffle ensued and the officer radioed for assistance. With the help of two other officers, the defendant was subdued and arrested.
Defendant urges as error the denial of his motion for directed verdict in that the State did not prove the officer, who was attempting to make the arrest without a warrant, had the lawful authority to make the arrest. We cannot agree.
We conclude Officer Petrie had the right to temporarily detain the defendant for further questioning to continue his investigation, and it did not matter that he did not have the authority to arrest defendant for a crime at that time. See Price v. State, Fla.App.1975, 318 So. 2d 468, 471. His detention not being unreasonable, the defendant was not permitted to test the validity of being detained by the investigating officer by either turning his back on the officer and walking away or by engaging in physical combat with him, thus denying the officer the opportunity to continue his legal duty to investigate the cause of the fresh body damage to defendant’s vehicle. See Clarke v. State, Fla.App.1974, 303 So. 2d 35 and Fla.Stat. § 843.01, F.S.A1; § 21-26 of the Code of Metropolitan Dade County.2
Affirmed.
. “843.01 Resisting officer with violence to his person
“Whoever knowingly and willfully resists, obstructs or opposes any sheriff, deputy sheriff, officer of the Florida highway patrol, municipal police officer, beverage enforcement agent, officer of the game and fresh water fish commission, officer of the department of natural resources, any member of the Florida parole and probation commission or any administrative aide or supervisor employed by said commission, any county probation officer or any personnel or representative of the department of law enforcement or other person legally authorized to execute process, in the execution of legal process or in the lawful execution of any legal duty, by offering or doing violence to the person of such officer or legally authorized person, shall be guilty of a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in § 775.082, § 775.083, or § 775.084.”
. “(A)(1) It shall be unlawful for any person to knowingly resist or obstruct the performance by one, who the person knows or has reason to believe is a police officer . . . , of any authorized act within such officer’s capacity.”
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
-
Jacobson v. State, 476 So. 2d 1282 (Fla. 1985)…he arrest report says “resisting arrest,” when, in fact, Jacobson was resisting execution of a lawful duty, section 843.02, also listed on the report, does not require that the officer be attempting to arrest the suspect. See, e.g., Kaiser v. State, 328 So. 2d 570 (Fla. 3d DCA 1976) (charge of resisting officer with violence, section 843.01, proper when officer has legal right to detain suspect for questioning). Jacobson’s arrest for resisting an officer without violence was therefore legal, and the search wh…
-
State v. Hartzog, 575 So. 2d 1328 (Fla. 1st DCA 1991)…e adjudication, the court recognized that the officer was there carrying out a legal duty based on facts which gave him reasonable suspicion to lawfully detain rather than probable cause to arrest. M.C., 450 So. 2d at 337. Again in Kaiser v. State, 328 So. 2d 570 (Fla. 3d DCA 1976), the Third District held that a defendant could be convicted of resisting an officer with violence to his person, as proscribed by Section 843.01, Florida Statutes (1973), which, in language also similar to section 784.07(2), requ…
-
Johnson v. State, 433 So. 2d 648 (Fla. 2d DCA 1983)…led the officer to believe that he had committed, was committing, or was about to commit a criminal offense. The evidence shows that appellant resisted with violence the officer’s attempts to detain him. 318 So. 2d at 471. See also Kaiser v. State, 328 So. 2d 570 (Fla. 3d DCA 1976). Admittedly, Officer Salvador had not arrested appellant at the time appellant ran from him. In fact, at that point Salvador was not in a position to do so without a warrant because he had not obtained probable cause to arrest hi…
Previewing 3 of 8 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Price v. State, 318 So. 2d 468 (Fla. 1st DCA 1975)
- Clarke v. State, 303 So. 2d 35 (Fla. 3d DCA 1974)