Below information is from court documents that were filed by the State Attorney's office.
COMES NOW WILLIAM N. MEGGS, State Attorney, by and through the undersigned Assistant State Attorney, and enters this NO INFORMATION in the above-styled cause, and as grounds therefore, would show:
Based on the police reports in this case, this incident began over people walking in the street. As a police vehicle approached, the pedestrians got out of the roadway and then resumed walking in the roadway after the police vehicle passed. It should be noted that the street in question has no sidewalks and many of the homes are set very close to the road so as to make it impractical for residents and visitors to avoid walking in the street. The police vehicle turned around and an officer exited the vehicle and attempted to detain the Defendant’s brother for a civil infraction of obstructing the roadway. When the officer ordered the Defendant’s brother to stop, he refused. When the officer grabbed the Defendant’s brother’s arms, he attempted to pull away and was charged with resisting officer without violence.
Defendant Rivers began yelling at the officer who was arresting her brother. Rivers refused to leave the area when asked to do so repeatedly by officers. When an officer attempted to arrest Rivers for interfering in the arrest of her brother, she pulled away several times. Rivers was arrested for resisting an officer without violence.
To prove this charge, the State must prove that Rivers was interfering with a lawful arrest. Assuming there was probable cause to arrest her brother, the State finds that there is insufficient evidence to show that Rivers interfered with that arrest. In reference to Rivers’ actions of pulling away from the officer, the law is clear that a citizen has the right to resist an unlawful arrest as long as the resistance is non-violent. Since there is insufficient evidence in this case to prove that Rivers interfered with the arrest of her brother, the State cannot prove that her subsequent resistance was unlawful. Therefore, the State elects to dismiss the charge against Defendant Quaneshia Rivers.
Dated on October 10, 2014.
