State v. Clay

539 N.E.2d 1168, 43 Ohio Misc. 2d 5, 1988 Ohio Misc. LEXIS 15
CourtHamilton County Municipal Court
DecidedMarch 31, 1988
DocketNo. 87CRB30023
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 539 N.E.2d 1168 (State v. Clay) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Hamilton County Municipal Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Clay, 539 N.E.2d 1168, 43 Ohio Misc. 2d 5, 1988 Ohio Misc. LEXIS 15 (Ohio Super. Ct. 1988).

Opinion

Painter, J.

This matter was tried to the court, the defense offering no evidence after the conclusion of the case by the prosecution. Both parties subsequently submitted briefs at the invitation of the court.

The defendant stands charged solely with resisting arrest, in violation of R.C. 2921.33(A), which states: “No person, recklessly or by force, shall resist or interfere with the lawful arrest of himself or another.”

The facts in this matter are undisputed, and were set out in the testimony of Cincinnati Police Officer Art Evans. Officer Evans, while conducting a routine security check at University of Cincinnati Hospital, observed the defendant in the hallway of the emergency entrance. The defendant was a patient, occupying a bed in the hallway. The officer observed the defendant yelling obscenities and ripping his hospital gown.

A doctor approached Officer Evans and explained that the defendant “had attempted suicide and he needed psychiatric care,” and that he was going to leave the hospital without permission from the doctor. The doctor asked Officer Evans to stop the defendant from leaving.

Officer Evans testified that the defendant donned his street clothes and bolted through the emergency entrance when approached by the officer. Evans then chased the defendant out of the hospital and into the hospital parking lot, shouting, “police, stop. I need to talk to you.” The defendant answered with obscenities and continued to flee.

When the defendant reached the main gate to the hospital he stopped, drawing a small crowd. Officer Evans stated that as he attempted to approach the defendant, the defendant told him to stop and “to come no farther.” The officer explained that it was his responsibility to take him back to the hospital and that there would be no criminal charges, but the defendant refused. Officer Evans then took the arm of the defendant and a melee ensued between the officer and the defendant, also involving several erstwhile onlookers who were siding with the defendant.

Six to eight police officers responded to Officer Evans’ request for assistance, and were successful in restoring order. A force of three officers was required to gain control of the defendant. Two formerly innocent bystanders were also arrested for their involvement in the incident, but their [6]*6cases are not before the court at this time. Officer Evans testified that he arrested the defendant where the “squabble ensued,” adding that the charge was “for walking away from psychiatric care.”

R.C. 2921.33(A) specifically provides that the crime of resisting arrest includes, as an essential element, a lawful arrest. Hoover v. Garfield Hts. Mun. Ct. (C.A. 6, 1986), 802 F. 2d 168, 174, certiorari denied (1987), 480 U.S. 949. In determining the lawfulness of an arrest, the elements of the underlying charge need not be proven, but there must exist a “reasonable basis” for the arrest. State v. Johnson (1982), 6 Ohio App. 3d 56, 6 OBR 268, 453 N.E. 2d 1101; State v. Kirchner (1984), 19 Ohio Misc. 2d 7, 19 OBR 183, 483 N.E. 2d 497; Coffel v. Taylor (S.D. Ohio 1978), 8 O.O. 3d 253. The “reasonable basis” test considers whether a reasonable police officer under similar circumstances would have concluded the defendant had committed a crime suitable for arrest. State v. Johnson, supra.

This court is aware that the Ohio Supreme Court stated, in Columbus v. Fraley (1975), 41 Ohio St. 2d 173, 70 O.O. 2d 335, 324 N.E. 2d 735, certiorari denied (1975), 423 U.S. 872, that it was judicially abrogating the common-law rule that one may use force to resist an unlawful arrest. “* * * [I]n the absence of excessive or unnecessary force by an arresting officer, a private citizen may not use force to resist arrest by one he knows, or has good reason to believe, is an authorized police officer engaged in the performance of his duties, whether or not the arrest is illegal under the circumstances.” Fraley, at 180, 70 O.O. 2d at 339, 324 N.E. 2d at 740.

The common-law rule that one could use force to challenge the lawfulness of an arrest, pronounced in The Queen v. Tooley (1709), 2 Ld. Raym. 1296, 92 Eng. Rep. 349, might have been appropriate to that and previous times. However, what was perhaps applicable to the Sheriff of Nottingham should not be applicable in our allegedly more civilized society. Not only are the authorities much more accountable to courts and subject to legal restraints, but judicial review of police action is readily available, in that the accused is brought before a magistrate almost immediately. Crim. R. 4(E). Abuse of police power can be addressed before a lengthy passage of time. The present legal system, with almost instantaneous access to bail, to judicial review, and even appellate review must be contrasted with a rural or frontier society, with judges “riding circuit,” wherein defendants might languish in jails for weeks before an “unlawful” arrest could be reviewed. The legality of an arrest should be contested in the courtroom under law, not on the street under arms.

All of the above considerations underlie the Ohio Supreme Court’s pronouncement in Fraley, with which this court totally agrees. However, as pointed out by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in Hoover, supra, the Fraley pronouncements must be dicta since that court did not have the resisting arrest statute before it; rather, its ruling involved a Columbus city ordinance which did not make “lawful arrest” an element of the offense. The legislature has elected to make a “lawful arrest” an element of R.C. 2921.33 (A). Therefore, the Fraley court abolished the common-law rule in Ohio, but the element of lawful arrest is still a part of R.C. 2921.33(A) and each element must be proved by the prosecution before a conviction will pass constitutional muster. In re Winship (1970), 397 U.S. 358, 364. We commend to the attention of the legislature [7]*7the issue of whether the element might well be removed, especially in light of the Fraley rationale, but this court can not judicially change the statutory law.

The defendant was not charged with any underlying criminal charge; so, at first glance it would appear difficult to “resist” that arrest. However, the prosecution contends that the defendant arguably could have been charged with disorderly conduct, R.C. 2917.11 and/or escaping from a mental institution, R.C. 5122.26. The fact that a charge was not filed does not mean that there was no reasonable basis to believe that the defendant was subject to arrest. Each possible charge must be scrutinized under the “reasonable basis” test to determine whether the defendant can be convicted of resisting arrest. If there was a reasonable basis for the arrest, then the arrest was “lawful,” whether or not a conviction for the underlying offense was or could have been attained. State v. Johnson, supra; State v. Kirchner, supra.

The disorderly conduct statute, R.C. 2917.11, states in pertinent part: “No person shall recklessly cause inconvenience, annoyance, or alarm to another * * *.”

“An arrest for disorderly conduct is lawful when, under the circumstances, it is probable that a reasonable police officer would find an individual’s language and conduct annoying or alarming and would be provoked to want to respond violently.” State v. Johnson, supra,

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Bluebook (online)
539 N.E.2d 1168, 43 Ohio Misc. 2d 5, 1988 Ohio Misc. LEXIS 15, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-clay-ohmunicthamilto-1988.