Resisting an Officer Without Violence

Statute

FLORIDA STATUTE 843.02 Resisting officer without violence to his or her person.--Whoever shall resist, obstruct, or oppose any officer as defined in s. 943.10(1), (2), (3), (6), (7), (8), or (9); member of the Parole Commission or any administrative aide or supervisor employed by the commission; county probation officer; parole and probation supervisor; personnel or representative of the Department of Law Enforcement; or other person legally authorized to execute process in the execution of legal process or in the lawful execution of any legal duty, without offering or doing violence to the person of the officer, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083.

Jury Instruction
To prove the crime of Resisting Officer without Violence, the State must prove the following three elements beyond a reasonable doubt :

The court now instructs you that every (name of official position of victim designated in charge) is an officer within the meaning of this law.

In giving this instruction, do not refer to the victim by name. The instruction must state the class of officers to which the victim belongs, e.g., probation officer, correctional officer. See Wright v. State, 586 So.2d 1024 (Fla. 1991).

The court further instructs you that (read duty being performed from charge) constitutes [execution of legal process] [lawful execution of a legal duty].

In giving this instruction, refer only to the type of duty or legal process that was being performed, e.g., making an arrest, serving a subpoena, serving a domestic violence order. See Hierro v. State, 608 So.2d 912 (Fla. 3d DCA 1992).

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