Jacksonville Criminal Attorney Blog

Former Jacksonville Jaguar, Ernest Wilford, has entered a plea of no contest to a count of Resisting an Officer Without Violence. Wilford was arrested on January 14th after being asked to leave the Ritz Bar in Jacksonville Beach. The Ritz is watched constantly by the Jacksonville Beach Police Department. They have officers standing by and watching that two block radius of bars and restaurants. According to police reports, Wilford was at the Ritz at 1:20 in the morning. After refusing to leave the bar, the bouncers got Jacksonville Beach Police involved. The officer asked Wilford to leave and after refusing the officer's request, the officer put his hands on Wilford. Wilford attempted to pull away from the police, turned and pushed the officer in the chest with both hands moving him backwards four feet. The police deployed their Taser and gave Wilford two stuns because he would not submit. Once on the ground, they say Wilford continued to refuse to be handcuffed. The officer deployed another stun and he still refused. After the officer gave Wilford one knee strike to his right shoulder, the police finally handcuffed him.

After being arrested for Trespassing and Resisting an Officer Without Violence, Wilford was taken to the Jacksonville Beach Police Department before being transported to the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office Pretrial Detention Facility. It is standard for someone arrested in Jacksonville Beach to be transported to the jail in Jacksonville because Jacksonville Beach does not have a jail, just a holding area. If you are arrested at any of the beaches in Jacksonville, including Atlantic Beach, Neptune Beach, and Jacksonville Beach, you will be taken to downtown Jacksonville to be processed, put in a jail cell, and taken before a Jacksonville judge. Your criminal case will be handled in Jacksonville.

Wilford entered his plea of no contest to the charge of Resisting an Officer Without Violence, which is a first degree misdemeanor. A first degree misdemeanor is punishable by up to one year in jail. Wilford has to pay court costs and the judge withheld adjudication. That means that he was not convicted of the crime. The Trespassing charge was dropped by Jacksonville prosecutors.

The State Attorney's Office made a point to explain why they did not place Wilford in the Pretrial Diversion Program. The Pretrial Diversion Program, also referred to as PTI, is for first-time offenders who commit non-violent crimes in Jacksonville, such as petty theft or passing worthless checks. They elected to not place Wilford in that program because he did something to the police.

In a recent case in Florida, a police officer was on patrol in a "well-known and well-documented" drug area when he observed the suspect walking on the side of the road. The officer told the suspect he wanted to talk to him because he was actively chewing something in his mouth. The police asked the suspect what he was chewing, but the suspect didn't say anything. The officer then told the suspect to show him what he was chewing and the suspect opened to show an off-white rock (crack). The officer told him to spit it out and the suspect was arrested. The suspect was then convicted of tampering with evidence and resisting an officer without violence.

An appeals court looked at this case and found that the observations the officer made were the result of an illegal search. The court held that the initial encounter with the officer was consensual, meaning the suspect could have walked away without responding to the officer. When the officer told the suspect to open his mouth, the consensual encounter transformed into an investigatory stop. In order to hold a suspect against his will (where he is not free to leave), the officer must have reasonable suspicion the suspect is committing, has committed, or is about to commit a crime. In this case, all the officer saw was a guy walking late at night chewing something.

If you are arrested for resisting a police officer without violence in Jacksonville, you are facing a first degree misdemeanor. In order to prove the charge, the prosecutor must prove that:

1. the officer was engaged in the lawful execution of a legal duty AND

2. the action by the suspect obstructed or resisted the lawful duty

There is a distinction between an officer executing a lawful duty and an officer who is just "on the job". The arrest also has to be lawful and if it is not, a suspect can't be guilty of resisting it. If you are arrested for this offense, call a criminal defense attorney in Jacksonville to discuss your case and rights.