法律英语：81 Citizen's Arrest

by Michael W. Flynn

First, a disclaimer: Although I am an attorney, the legal information in this podcast is not intended to be a substitute for seeking personalized legal advice from an attorney licensed¹ to practice in your jurisdiction². Further, I do not intend to create an attorney-client relationship with any listener.

Today’s topic is citizen’s arrest, a topic of interest to many listeners...

Robin³ from California wrote:

Recently, some teenage hooligans defaced our letter box with spray paint. I often fantasize about catching⁴ them in the act and dishing out my brand of justice on the spot. But in reality I know that if I ever did see someone committing a crime, my first thoughts would be about any legal consequences of my actions. Suppose I did catch a teenager spray painting my letter box. Could I grab him and physically⁵ restrain him until police arrived? What if he resisted and tried to leave? If I'm strong enough I might be able to overcome that and still restrain him until the authorities came, but would I get in trouble if he were a bit bruised⁶, scraped, or cut, say, in our struggle? I can imagine an angry father coming at me for tussling with his kid.

Many of us share this unpleasant experience of neighborhood hooligans. The short answer is that there are situations where a private citizen may arrest someone. But, as Robin fears, if you do not carry out the citizen’s arrest properly, you might be liable for false imprisonment⁷, battery, assault, or other damages you cause in carrying out the arrest. The quick and dirty tip is to avoid making citizen’s arrests unless absolutely necessary. When possible, record as much information as you can and contact local police.

In most states, a private citizen has the right to arrest someone who has committed a felony in his presence, and may even arrest someone he reasonably believes to have committed a felony, so long as the felony was in fact committed. For a misdemeanor, the private citizen must actually witness the crime, and must make the arrest immediately. A citizen cannot arrest for a misdemeanor committed a long time ago. Also, the misdemeanor must constitute a “breach⁸ of the peace.”

In most states, no formal announcement or actions are required to perform the citizen’s arrest. The citizen must sufficiently⁹ convey, either through words or conduct, the intent to perform a citizen's arrest. A citizen may use force that is reasonable under the circumstances to restrain the individual arrested.

Let’s assume that defacing a mailbox constitutes a felony or a misdemeanor that is a breach of the peace. In Robin’s case, if she saw a neighborhood hooligan defacing her mailbox, she would have the right to approach the hooligan and execute a citizen’s arrest. She might place her hand on his shoulder and say, “I am making a citizen’s arrest.” Robin could then use enough reasonable force to detain the hooligan until police arrived. If the hooligan resisted, Robin could use enough force to protect herself and to ensure that the hooligan remained there, and would not be liable for any injuries that the hooligan sustained in his attempts to break free.

But, there are several reasons that conducting a citizen’s arrest is a bad idea. First, as Robin pointed¹⁰ out, the hooligan’s father is likely to be angry. Most parents do not want unnecessary police involvement in their kids’ lives. A more polite and practical course of action might be to approach the father and ask that he informally punish his son.

Second, Robin might face steep legal costs in defending herself, regardless of whether her actions were justified¹¹. For example, imagine that the hooligan ran when Robin approached, Robin tackled him and broke his wrist, and the father sued. Even if Robin’s actions were legally justified, she will have to spend considerable time and money to defend herself in the lawsuit¹².

Third, if Robin makes any mistakes, she bears the consequences. For example, assume that the hooligan was legally hired to spray paint all the mailboxes in an apartment complex. If Robin saw the hooligan and tried to arrest him, she would not be legally allowed to do so because the hooligan was not, in fact, committing a crime. Robin might be liable for false imprisonment, battery, or assault if she used force to detain him. There is generally no defense¹³ of a good-faith mistake for private citizens. When a private citizen makes a mistake about whether a crime has been committed, or whether the crime is one for which a citizen’s arrest is permitted, or tries to arrest the wrong person, the private citizen bears the consequences.

As you can see, citizen’s arrests are not foolproof. The safer course of action is to record anything you can about the incident and contact police immediately. Police are trained in the use force to apprehend¹⁴ criminals.

There are situations where simply recording¹⁵ an incident will not help. A common example is catching a purse-snatcher. If you witness someone run by and grab someone’s purse, that purse is not likely to be recovered unless you act immediately. In that situation, you are legally entitled to conduct a citizen’s arrest. But, before you do, consider that the criminal might be armed or much stronger than you are. You must decide if recovering the purse is worth your health or even your life.

You can send questions and comments to。。。。。。or call them in to the voicemail line at 206-202-4LAW. Please note that doing so will not create an attorney-client relationship and will be used for the purposes of this podcast only.

 

1 licensed   

adj.得到许可的v.许可，颁发执照(license的过去式和过去分词)

参考例句：

• The new drug has not yet been licensed in the US. 这种新药尚未在美国获得许可。
• Is that gun licensed? 那支枪有持枪执照吗？

2 jurisdiction   

n.司法权，审判权，管辖权，控制权

参考例句：

• It doesn't lie within my jurisdiction to set you free.我无权将你释放。
• Changzhou is under the jurisdiction of Jiangsu Province.常州隶属江苏省。

3 robin   

n.知更鸟，红襟鸟

参考例句：

• The robin is the messenger of spring.知更鸟是报春的使者。
• We knew spring was coming as we had seen a robin.我们看见了一只知更鸟，知道春天要到了。

4 catching   

adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住

参考例句：

• There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。
• Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。

5 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。

6 bruised   

[医]青肿的，瘀紫的

参考例句：

• his bruised and bloodied nose 他沾满血的青肿的鼻子
• She had slipped and badly bruised her face. 她滑了一跤，摔得鼻青脸肿。

7 imprisonment   

n.关押，监禁，坐牢

参考例句：

• His sentence was commuted from death to life imprisonment.他的判决由死刑减为无期徒刑。
• He was sentenced to one year's imprisonment for committing bigamy.他因为犯重婚罪被判入狱一年。

8 breach   

n.违反，不履行；破裂；vt.冲破，攻破

参考例句：

• We won't have any breach of discipline.我们不允许任何破坏纪律的现象。
• He was sued for breach of contract.他因不履行合同而被起诉。

9 sufficiently   

adv.足够地，充分地

参考例句：

• It turned out he had not insured the house sufficiently.原来他没有给房屋投足保险。
• The new policy was sufficiently elastic to accommodate both views.新政策充分灵活地适用两种观点。

10 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

11 justified   

a.正当的，有理的

参考例句：

• She felt fully justified in asking for her money back. 她认为有充分的理由要求退款。
• The prisoner has certainly justified his claims by his actions. 那个囚犯确实已用自己的行动表明他的要求是正当的。

12 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。

13 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

14 apprehend   

vt.理解，领悟，逮捕，拘捕，忧虑

参考例句：

• I apprehend no worsening of the situation.我不担心局势会恶化。
• Police have not apprehended her killer.警察还未抓获谋杀她的凶手。

15 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。