Diving Into Willful Obstruction of Law
Willful obstruction of law enforcement officers comes from the Georgia Code as a result of a goal to have an enhanced punishment for people interfering with law enforcement officers and public officials performing their duties in trying to keep the peace and control crowds. This increased penalty acts as a deterrent to that conduct, and does not have to rely on the same elements as resisting arrest, because that offense often requires that a cop be working in their official capacity and not doing a social favor for you or in some other capacity like work or personal friend.
The general elements of a willful obstruction charge are that someone intentionally was in the way of a law enforcement officer performing their official duties or tried to make the arrest of a person harder than it would have been were that person not interfering. Examples might be trying to sneak a phone to someone in the back of a squad car, grabbing someone around the waist as they are about to be placed in handcuffs, standing in front of someone in the process of being detained without consent, etc.
Note however, that this only applies when you are trying to get in the way of a cop that is doing something in their official capacity: if they are especially close friends , are merely acting as a casual observer and are not trying to perform official duties or are in some other capacity than a law enforcement officer, then they are not acting in their official capacity, and the interaction is between private citizens for purposes of the criminal code. To understand this, you have to understand the element of "intention"; if you were merely trying to get the attention of a friend to explain what is going on and they just happen to be a cop, you aren’t really trying to obstruct them, it is incidental that they are an officer. However, if you are trying to fight someone that happens to be a cop (in their official capacity), however, you cannot claim "I didn’t know" or "there was no intent to fight on my behalf," because your intention was to start or engage in a fight, so intent actually does enter the picture at that point.
That "intention" element is a key component that leads to most eventualities in these cases. Were you intentionally trying to do what the officers claim? Are you standing by in a friendly manner? Are you trying to put a stop to a fight or breaking up a domestic situation, and only incidentally get in the way of the officers? These all become central issues in a trial, because this will lead to a conviction or an acquittal on the charge of willful obstruction of law enforcement officers.
Typical Obstruction Scenarios
A common way that willful obstruction of law enforcement occurs is by physically interfering with an arrest. Here is an example of an arrest where some interference occurs. In that case the defendant was charged with obstructing a police officer, and other domestic violence charges, after his wife called 911 and reported that he had choked her and pulled her hair and threatened her. The police officers arrived and found the defendant in the front yard and took him into custody for assault as well as for violating a restraining order that she had taken out against him. As the officers attempted to handcuff the defendant, he pulled away, resisted and struggled to break free. He was eventually subdued and arrested. The defendant was charged with assault family violence, violation of a protective order, false imprisonment and resisting arrest. While it may have been justified for the defendant to resist in that situation, what was not justified was his subsequent actions. He was charged with a felony count of willfully obstructing and resisting the officers (i) without legal authority, (ii) without causing bodily injury to the officers). Thus, he was charged with committing willful obstruction of law enforcement officers after he was arrested and not prior to that arrest.
Penalties and Sentences
A conviction for willful obstruction of law enforcement can have serious and lifelong consequences. While states vary, in general this charge is categorized as a felony of obstruction of justice in most states. The penalties for this serious offense also vary by state. In California, under Penal Code 148(a)(1), a person convicted of misdemeanor obstruction of justice will be sentenced to up to one year in jail and/or a fine of up to one thousand dollars. In Georgia, under O.C.G.A. ยง 16-10-24(b), a person convicted of felony obstruction of justice is sentenced between one to ten years in prison within the judge’s discretion.
Certain factors may increase or decrease the severity of these penalties. For example, a minor obstruction that caused only temporary harm to a law officer may be treated as a misdemeanor. On the other hand, if the obstruction also resulted in pregnancy due to a sexual offense, the person may be charged with a felony. Any type of assault that caused significant injury can also be upgraded to felony charges.
Obstruction Defenses
A variety of legal defenses may apply. For instance, the defendant may have truly lacked the intent to obstruct law enforcement officers. This can happen if a defendant performed actions that had other intended outcomes, such as simply trying to show the officer directions to get to an address while not knowing that this may get in the way of officer duties. It could also be argued that the police officer did not follow proper procedures and did not properly identify himself as a police officer, so the defendant was not intentionally interfering with a law enforcement officer.
The defendant may also be able to argue a misunderstanding. If a defendant was confused by the situation, he or she may not be responsible for the obstruction of justice charge . For example, if a police officer arrested the defendant for one reason and then asked him or her to do something else, such as speak a certain way, the defendant may not understand the request and could be able to argue that they did not intend to interfere with the officer’s duties as a result. A person’s right to remain silent during police questioning is protected by the Fifth Amendment and the defendant may be able to argue that no other statement was necessary or even permissible.
However, there are no guarantees that a judge will agree with any of these arguments, and anyone facing an obstruction of justice charge may want to speak to an experienced criminal defense attorney as soon as possible to determine the best strategy for his or her particular case.
Prominent Obstruction Cases
Though the law against willful obstruction of law enforcement has been around for a long time, cases don’t get better on the facts just because the law is older. In 2010, a Firestone employee, later on trial for theft, was charged with willfully obstructing law enforcement officers investigating the case. When speaking to the employees and suspected thief, the defendant did not give law enforcement access to the video of the theft from the company storage room. The video showed the suspect breaking open a security lock and taking out two tires from the storage room. Because of this concealment of evidence, the defendant was charged with obstruction of law enforcement.
In 2013, an officer attempted to arrest an individual who had an active warrant. At the time of this attempt, that person fled and attempted to solicit for help from another individual. The officer ordered the second person to move, but he failed to do so, thinking the officer was talking to the first person who was under arrest . The other person failed to follow the orders from the officer and was charged him with obstruction.
In 2012, an Atlanta man was charged with obstruction after telling a friend to "shut the f**k up" and leave a pending investigation. The police reported that the friend had blown through a DUI license checkpoint, but the officer refused to stop the friend because the officer had let one other car pass without stopping them. The driver then aided the friend in trying to avoid consequences, but this interference with arrest got both of them arrested for obstruction.
Some individuals contest charges of willful obstruction of law enforcement. In 2011 a man was arrested for obstruction and even charged for felony criminal damage to property after destroying someone else’s mailbox. This charge was later dropped from the complaint, but obstruction remained a charge. This man was facing a year in jail and a $1000 fine, but at the trial the jury found him not guilty of the obstruction charge, showing the jury the aid they could be to officers on the road.