A Midnight Misunderstanding

Facts of the Case

A man awoke at midnight realizing his next-door neighbor’s house was engulfed in flames. He knew no one was home & he saw police & fire personnel had already arrived. His driveway was adjacent to the flaming home and decided he should move his vehicle out of the driveway to keep it safe. While backing out of his driveway, he was confronted by a stressed-out police officer who sought to maintain strict control of the area. Wanting to move his vehicle onto the street & away from the fire, he struggled to comply in his confusion with the officer’s screaming directives. The officer grew impatient, pulled him out of his vehicle & attempted to arrest him. The man, in his confusion, kept attempting to look at the officer, asking what he’d done wrong. He allowed himself to be handcuffed & was placed in the officer’s patrol car. He was then charged with resisting arrest.

The Problem

The law did not support that a person being confused was enough to constitute a violation of the law under the charge of resisting arrest. But what evidence could we gather to verify our client’s story?

Our Approach and Solution

We knew that with a fire, there would be dash camera footage & possibly body camera footage as well. We mailed evidence preservation letters to all branches of law enforcement that were present during the incident. We requested all reports & footage available from that night & after reviewing hours of footage, our client’s story was vindicated.

Meet the Attorney

Our Working Process and Solution

1. We took the officer’s deposition, seeking specific admissions that we knew would legally prove our client’s innocence.
2. We negotiated with the prosecutor to try to have the case dismissed.
3. We filed pleadings with the court showing how the facts & law proved our client was innocent.

The Outcome of the Lawsuit

The court’s inquiry to the state requesting additional evidence to show how the charge could possibly survive resulted in a “nolle prosique”- a legal Latin term meaning the prosecution is no longer able to prosecute their case & therefore must abandon their charges. The case was dismissed & the client was free to go.