Refusing Police Commands

In this archive episode, Dennis answers questions on case laws regarding refusal to follow police commands. Recorded on 04/19/2018. State v Doss 2002 - https://law.justia.com/cases/new-jersey/appellate-division-published/1992/254-n-j-super-122-1.html?fbclid=IwAR3VADQXd2nKrzEPBtRk3MOniOpmwiYw--JK3I7zyqQ43e6qJmT1Y_GRJRs (https://law.justia.com/.../1992/254-n-j-super-122-1.html) In the present case, once the totality of the circumstances observed by the police justifiably aroused an "articulable suspicion" which warranted their stopping and interrogating defendant, he was legally obligated to halt in response to their shouted orders to stop and, subject to his privilege against self-incrimination, he had a duty to answer their inquiries.[4] As the Court stated in State v. Lashinsky, 81 N.J. 1, 11, 404 A.2d 1121 (1979), "where an officer's instructions are obviously reasonable, *130 in furtherance of his duties, an individual toward whom such instructions are directed has a correlative duty to obey them." See also State v. Taylor, 121 N.J. Super. 395, 297 A.2d 216 (Cty.Dist.Ct. 1972). When defendant continued his flight from the pursuing police officers despite their shouted orders to halt, his refusal to obey their orders, together with all of the other circumstances of the case, gave the police reasonable cause to believe that he had committed or was then committing a criminal offense. See Kolender v. Lawson, supra, 461 U.S. at 366 n. 4, 103 S. Ct. at 1863 n. 4, 75 L. Ed. 2d at 915 n. 4 (Brennan, J., concurring) ("[R]eactions [by individuals to a properly limited Terry encounter], such as flight, may often provide the necessary information, in addition to that the officers already possess, to constitute probable cause."); LaFave, supra, § 9.2(d) at 369 (quoting Model Code of Pre-Arraignment Procedure at 284-85 (1975)). Consequently, when Detective Parks and the other policeman caught up with defendant and handcuffed him when he tripped and fell, they had probable cause to effect his arrest. The concurrent se