Updated August 19, 2020

Under Penal Code 148 PC, California law defines the crime of resisting arrest as willfully resisting or obstructing police officers or emergency medical technicians in the performance of their official duties. As a misdemeanor, this offense carries a maximum sentence of up to one year in jail and a fine of up to $1000.00.

148a1 PC states that “every person who willfully resists, delays, or obstructs any public officer, peace officer, or an emergency medical technician…in the discharge or attempt to discharge any duty of his or her office or employment, when no other punishment is prescribed, shall be punished by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by imprisonment in a county jail not to exceed one year, or by both that fine and imprisonment.”

Officers will often write up the citation as “PC 148,” “148 PC” or “148a1 PC.”

Examples

Struggling with police officers as they try to apply handcuffs

Taunting an EMT as he tries to provide medical assistance to a victim

Giving a false name to the authorities during questioning

Defenses

There are several legal defenses that a person can raise if accused of a crime under Penal Code 148. These include showing that the defendant:

did not act willfully,

was falsely accused, and/or

was arrested without probable cause.

Penalties

A violation of 148 PC is charged as a misdemeanor in California (as opposed to a felony or an infraction).

The crime is punishable by:

imprisonment in county jail for up to one year, and/or

a maximum fine of $1,000.

Please note that in lieu of jail time, a judge may award a defendant with misdemeanor (or summary probation).

Our California criminal defense attorneys will explain the following in this article:

1. How does California law define resisting arrest?

Penal Code 148 PC is the California statute that makes it a crime for a person to willfully resist or obstruct a police officer, or EMT, in the performance of his official duties.

A prosecutor must prove three things in order to successfully convict an accused under this statute. These are that the accused:

willfully resisted, delayed, or obstructed a police officer or EMT, did so when the officer/EMT was engaged in the performance of his official duties, and knew, or should have known, that the officer/EMT was engaged in his official duties.

Many are aware that resisting arrest includes a person trying to obstruct the police in lawfully taking him into custody. But the crime also includes a wide range of other activity, like a person:

interfering with a police officer’s travel to the scene of a crime or accident,

to the scene of a crime or accident, obstructing the authorities from interviewing a witness of a crime,

of a crime, trying to interfere with police while they are monitoring a suspect in custody.

Note that a college campus security officer is not a “public officer” or “police officer” for purposes of this statute.

Also note that someone commits an act willfully when he does it willingly or on purpose. It is not required that he intends to break the law, hurt someone else, or gain any advantage.

2. How can a person contest the charges?

If a person is accused of a crime under this statute, then he can challenge the accusation by raising a legal defense. A good defense can often get a charge reduced or even dismissed.

Three common defenses are:

no willful act, falsely accused, and/or no probable cause.

2.1. No willful act

Recall that an accused is only guilty under PC 148 if he acted “willfully.” This means it is always a solid legal defense for a defendant to show that he did not act with this purpose. For example, maybe an accused interfered with a police officer’s official duties on accident.

2.2. Falsely accused

Officers are often quick to charge a person with resisting arrest merely because they don’t like the person’s attitude. Or merely because the person asks for an explanation as to why he or she is being arrested. Moreover, police may use the charge to try to justify or cover up police misconduct, racial profiling and excessive force.