Getting charged with the crime of assault in the State of California can be very serious with stiff penalties if you’re convicted. Consequently, you want to make sure that you have a competent criminal defense attorney representing you. Besides going to jail, you may find it harder later to find a job or get credit with a criminal record. If the assault qualifies as a sex offense, you may be required to register in every county you move to as a sex offender.

If you’re arrested in Santa Barbara County, Santa Barbara Criminal Assault Attorney William C. Makler can advise you and help you fight the charges and minimize the penalties, if any, that you face.

But sometimes the police can get physical in the course of an arrest and the person getting arrested can become the victim of an assault as well.

Generally speaking, a police officer does not have any more right to touch people than a non-police officer, However, a police officer may touch you if he does so under one of the following circumstances:

(1) in self-defense
(2) in defense of another
(3) pursuant to probable cause to arrest (e.g., you broke a law in his presence* or if he believes you are a felon who has yet to be arrested)
(4) to effect a citizen’s arrest on behalf of another (where the crime was not committed in his presence).
(5) pursuant to an arrest warrant
(6) to prevent your injury (if say you are passed out on the street)*

* By the way, these are rights that all people have, not just the police.

It is NEVER, and I mean NEVER, a good idea to physically resist a police officer. If you believe that they have no right to touch you, but are doing so anyway, just tell them politely that you do not consent to be touched and go along with the program. Submit to the arrest. Whatever they did wrong can be dealt with in one or more courts of law after the fact. Don’t exacerbate the problem by pulling away or, even worse, physically assaulting the officer. Doing so can result in the following negative circumstances:

(1) You could get injured
(2) You could get tased (even if you say, “don’t tase me bro’“)
(3) You can get charged with additional and more serious crimes (even felonies) and/or
(4) You could get killed (possibly)

Having said all of that, go ahead assert your rights VERBALLY, and only within reason (in other words you don’t need to repeat yourself again and again, nor shout, to preserve your rights), and just be polite. As the old saying goes, you attract more flies with honey than vinegar.

Please contact Santa Barbara Criminal Assault Attorney William C. Makler for more information about this topic or if you face criminal charges in Santa Barbara County and would like a free, no obligation consultation about your rights and options.