People v. Santiago
| Decision Date | 20 April 1972 |
| Citation | 332 N.Y.S.2d 733,69 Misc.2d 1098 |
| Parties | The PEOPLE of the State of New York v. Joseph SANTIAGO, Defendant. |
| Court | New York City Court |
Angelo Ingrassia, District Attorney (Mark Fox, of counsel), for plaintiff.
Edward S. Corner, Port Jervis, for defendant.
This is a trial of the defendant for resisting arrest under Section 205.30 of the Penal Law of the State of New York. It is a trial without a jury and defendant, among other things, raises the question of his arrest by Sergeant Francis Graziano of the Port Jervis Police Department as being an unlawful arrest resulting from the defendant failing to produce a license and a charge resulting from failure to produce a registration for an automobile in which said defendant was sitting behind the steering wheel of said automobile at the time of the arrest. The defendant has testified to the fact that the automobile was immobile at the time of the arrest. Although the automobile had its headlights on, neither the defendant nor the prosecution could testify with any degree of certainty that the key of said automobile was in fact in the switch at the time of the arrest. From the evidence produced on such trial the Court is of the opinion that the defendant was not in fact guilty of either of such charges, such charges being dismissed.
However, the matter of the defendant violating Section 205.30 of the Penal Law is now before the Court. Under Section 35.27 entitled 'Justification; use of physical force in resisting arrest prohibited,' such statement states as follows: 'A person may not use physical force to resist an arrest, whether authorized or unauthorized, which is being effected or attempted by a peace officer when it would reasonably appear that the latter is a peace officer.' In the instant case the Court, in view of this section of law, requires that a person who has been arrested whether or not such arrest is valid or invalid or authorized or unauthorized and which has been or is being effected by a police officer, and at the time the defendant can reasonably be assumed to know that he is being arrested by a peace officer, whether such peace officer is in uniform or not so long as he is advised or has reason to believe that such peace officer is on duty, said defendant cannot use any physical force to resist such arrest. In fact, in the case of People v. Simms, 36 A.D.2d 23, at page 24, 319 N.Y.S.2d 144, at page 146, the Court in discussing the logic...
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State v. Holeman
...made by police officers. See, e.g., People v. Bailey, 108 Ill.App.3d 392, 64 Ill.Dec. 75, 439 N.E.2d 4 (1982); People v. Santiago, 69 Misc.2d 1098, 332 N.Y.S.2d 733 (1972); Gonzalez v. State, 574 S.W.2d 135 (Tex.Crim.App.1978). Our own Court of Appeals in State v. Westlund, 13 Wn.App. 460, ......
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