Also known as: lawful arrest · lawfulness of arrests · lawfully arrested · valid arrest · lawful detention
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A status of an arrest that satisfies constitutional, statutory, and common-law requirements for validity. This status determines whether officers or assistants may use force to effect the arrest without facing liability and whether evidence obtained incident to the arrest is admissible.
After arresting Lola Langley on an outstanding warrant, officers took her to the station and searched her purse before placing her in a cell. The search revealed drug paraphernalia. Because the arrest was valid, the inventory search of her belongings was permissible without a warrant.
Harbor police told Leo Lynch he was under arrest for smuggling and ordered dockworker Lucia Lopez to help stop his flight toward his boat. Lopez swung a mooring line at Lynch's legs. Because the arrest was lawful, Lopez's assistance was justified under the Model Penal Code.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Officers stopped Lillian Locke without reasonable suspicion and discovered an unrelated valid arrest warrant during the encounter. They arrested her and found drugs in a search incident to that arrest. The preexisting warrant attenuated the taint of the initial stop, rendering the evidence admissible.
Levi Lowe killed a witness who had identified him to police. The killing occurred to prevent his own lawful arrest on pending charges. The jury found the murder was committed for the purpose of avoiding a lawful arrest and imposed the death penalty.
An officer observed Lucy Liu casing a store and conducted a brief investigatory stop. The stop revealed probable cause for arrest after Liu attempted to flee. The initial stop was lawful, so the subsequent arrest and evidence obtained were admissible.
Officers arrested Liam Lowe without probable cause and obtained a confession during custodial interrogation. The confession led to additional evidence. Because the arrest lacked lawfulness, the confession and derivative evidence were suppressed as fruit of the unlawful arrest.
Under the Model Penal Code, a person lawfully assisting a public officer in the performance of duties or making a lawful arrest may use force that would otherwise be limited. The justification remains as long as the arrest is lawful and the force is believed immediately necessary.
Supporting sources
Yes. When an unlawful investigatory stop leads to discovery of a preexisting valid arrest warrant, the warrant constitutes an intervening circumstance that, combined with minimal police misconduct, attenuates the taint and renders evidence from the subsequent lawful arrest admissible.
Supporting sources
Yes. Following a valid arrest, officers may inventory an arrestee's personal belongings at the stationhouse before incarceration as a recognized exception to the warrant requirement.
Supporting sources
No. A person may not use force in self-protection to resist an arrest the actor knows is being made by a peace officer, even if the arrest is later determined to be unlawful.
Supporting sources
…or place of lawful confinement. "(10) The murder was committed for the purpose of avoiding, interfering with, or preventing a lawful arrest or custody in a place of lawful confinement, of himself or another." § 27-2534.1 (b) (Supp. 1975). Having found an aggravating circumstance, however, the jury is not required to impose the…