police assault arrest self-defense
Dodging police bullet illegal?
<p>Would dodging, or otherwise itentionally avoiding, being shot by the police be considered resisting arrest? Mainly regarding U.S. law, but interested if any other law adresses this. </p>

<p>Prior to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tennessee_v._Garner" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Tennessee v. Garner, 471 U.S. 1 (1985)</a>, common law allowed police to use deadly force to effect the arrest of a person suspected of a felony.  Even though SCOTUS there held that such a practice violates Fourth Amendment civil rights, I was surprised to find that <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190206192128/http://www.slu.edu/colleges/law/journal/police-use-of-deadly-force-state-statues-30-years-after-garner/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">in some states it is <em>still</em> lawful for police to use deadly force to effect an arrest</a>!</p>
<p>Let us examine the most extreme case, which is that the police can legally shoot at you to effect your arrest.  As explained <a href="https://law.stackexchange.com/a/2211/10">here, you are always allowed to resist &quot;excessive force.&quot;</a>  If you make it to court, these qualifications (e.g., &quot;necessary&quot; and &quot;excessive&quot;) are ultimately decided based on what a &quot;reasonable person&quot; would have believed in the situation.  So if a cop shoots at you, and you &quot;dodge&quot; the bullet, it is <em>possible</em> for you both to be found not guilty of any crime.  I.e., the cop can be found to have acted &quot;reasonably&quot; because he believed you were a violent felon and shooting you was the only way to stop you.  And you can be found to have acted &quot;reasonably&quot; because you believed you were being subject to excessive force.</p>
<p>While this is an interesting hypothetical, in practice of course by the time a cop is shooting at you you are almost certainly going to be <em>charged</em> with resisting arrest.  Or, if the cop fired in self-defense (rather than to effect an arrest) you will be charged with a number of far more serious crimes (starting with felony assault, reckless endangerment, and going on from there...).</p>
