Do we have a case for false arrest?

[D. Wissler]

State of Indiana:

My brother-in-law owns a retail/wholesale business. A few days ago, two state police officers entered his business, which resulted in about a dozen knives being confiscated as being switchblades and was cited with an Indiana UTT citation. Two days later it was broadcast on a local radio station, that he was arrested for selling switchblade knives and released. We can prove, beyond any doubt, that they are not switchblades. If the officer's knew the law, they would have known, once seeing the knives, that they weren't what the complaint was about. Do we have a case for false arrest?

 

[Zigner]

State of Indiana:

My brother-in-law owns a retail/wholesale business. A few days ago, two state police officers entered his business, which resulted in about a dozen knives being confiscated as being switchblades and was cited with an Indiana UTT citation. Two days later it was broadcast on a local radio station, that he was arrested for selling switchblade knives and released. We can prove, beyond any doubt, that they are not switchblades. If the officer's knew the law, they would have known, once seeing the knives, that they weren't what the complaint was about. Do we have a case for false arrest?

According to your post, there was no "arrest" in the first place.

 

[seniorjudge]

Definitions of arrest on the Web:

* collar: take into custody; "the police nabbed the suspected criminals"
* check: hold back, as of a danger or an enemy; check the expansion or influence of; "Arrest the downward trend"; "Check the growth of communism in South East Asia"; "Contain the rebel movement"; "Turn back the tide of communism"
* apprehension: the act of apprehending (especially apprehending a criminal); "the policeman on the beat got credit for the collar"
* catch: attract and fix; "His look caught her"; "She caught his eye"; "Catch the attention of the waiter"
* the state of inactivity following an interruption; "the negotiations were in arrest"; "held them in check"; "during the halt he got some lunch"; "the momentary stay enabled him to escape the blow"; "he spent the entire stop in his seat"
* halt: cause to stop; "Halt the engines"; "Arrest the progress"; "halt the presses"
wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

* An arrest is the action of police or other authority, or even in some circumstances a private civilian, to apprehend and take under guard a person who is suspected of committing a crime. The term is Frankish in origin and is related to the French word Arrêt, meaning "stop". ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arrest

* To deprive a person of his liberty by legal authority.
www.courts.state.va.us/glossary_of_court_terms.html

* To take into custody by legal authority.
courts.delaware.gov/How%20To/court%20proceedings/

* the process of taking a person accused of a crime into custody by a law enforcement officer.
www.maricopacountyattorney.org/CCProcess/adultgloss.asp

* The taking of a person into physical custody to be held for appearance before the court.
www.courts.mo.gov/osca/index.nsf/0/8b69295b674dde2186256e15004ea27f

* Action of taking a juvenile into custody for the purpose of charging him or her with a crime. The juvenile justice process often begins with an investigation by a police officer, either because he or she observes a law violation or because a violation is reported. ...
www.dphilpotlaw.com/html/glossary.html

* When the police take a person into custody on probable cause with or without a warrant.
www.courts.state.ny.us/courts/nyc/criminal/glossary.shtml

* The seizing of a person and detaining him/her in custody by lawful authority.
www.tennessee.gov/correction/criminaljustice/glossary.htm

* This is when the police detain someone, telling them they are not free to leave until further notice. Often, an arrest will take place at the same time as a person is charged with an offence, but not necessarily. The police can arrest someone and keep them in police custody for some time while deciding whether or not to lay a charge against them. If the police decide not to lay a charge, the person will be released. ...
www.owjn.org/info/glossar2.htm

* Occurs when, either through show of force or actual physical seizure, a law enforcement officer detains a person or otherwise leads that person to reasonably believe that he or she is not free to leave.
www.mad.uscourts.gov/LocPubs/crimglossary.htm

* The seizure of a person by police.
www.sphinxlegal.com/sphinx/content/freeresources/glossaryresult.asp

* The apprehension of a person suspected of a crime. They may be held in custody or released on bail.
www.fisicx.com/quickreference/politics/legalterms.html

* refers to taking into custody an individual who it is believed committed a crime. An arrest can be made based on identification of the subject as the involved party in an incident or following the issuance of a warrant by a court
www.mtholyoke.edu/offices/dps/logs/logdefin.shtml

* To take into custody by legal authority. Assault: Threat to inflict injury with an apparent ability to do so. Also, any intentional display of force that would give the victim reason to fear or expect immediate bodily harm.
www.lawdesk.com/legal_dictionary/letter_a.htm

* A person has been arrested when he/she has been actually placed under restraint or taken into custody by an officer or person executing a warrant of arrest, or by an officer or person arresting without a warrant.
www.charges-dropped.com/law-glossary.html

* An arrest is made when a law enforcement officer charges an adult with a criminal act, or violation of law and takes the adult into custody based on probable cause. A juvenile is not "arrested", but "taken into custody" under the identical circumstances. top
www.justice4kids.org/glossary.htm

* To apprehend a criminal.
hjem.get2net.dk/safsaf/glossary.html

* police seize the suspected offender for prosecution by the state.
www.geocities.com/sacsnewbritain/glossary.htm

 

[tranquility]

Citing and releasing a suspect is an arrest. Technically, if you get a speeding ticket, you have been arrested.

 

[outonbail]

State of Indiana:

My brother-in-law owns a retail/wholesale business. A few days ago, two state police officers entered his business, which resulted in about a dozen knives being confiscated as being switchblades and was cited with an Indiana UTT citation. Two days later it was broadcast on a local radio station, that he was arrested for selling switchblade knives and released. We can prove, beyond any doubt, that they are not switchblades. If the officer's knew the law, they would have known, once seeing the knives, that they weren't what the complaint was about. Do we have a case for false arrest?

What complaint are you referring to? Were the police there to investigate a complaint which was filed against you by some third party that you're not mentioning?
Can you expand on your opinion of why, this alleged complaint wasn't about the selling of knives, which were incorrectly classified as switchblades? If the complaint wasn't about the switchblades, what was it about and did you personally read the information which was included in this complaint, either at the time of, or prior to the police seizing the knives?

Have the knives since been returned to your brother in law, or are the police still in possession of them?
Can these knives be easily converted to fit the legal definition of a switch blade by the simple addition or installation of a spring or other part and if so, is this part also available for purchase at your brother in laws store or possibly included in the same box or packaging as the knife itself?
Are there other stores in your brother in laws local area that offer these same knives for sale? If so, have their knives also been confiscated or are they still offering them for sale?
and finally, did your brother in law receive any prior notification or warnings about the selling of this particular style of knife?

 

[CdwJava]

Also, all because the radio station said they were switchblades does not mean they got it right. the media very often gets it wrong.

Additionally, a section of law covering "switchblades" might cover a whole lot of things! For instance, out here a "switchblade" also includes gravity knives or any blade that opens by a spring or a flick of the wrist. And, a "dirk or dagger" can include pocket knives, screwdrivers, nail files, ad nauseum.

So, can you give is a description (or a link to one) of the knives, and the code section under which he was cited?

Also, to add to the arrest controversy, being issued a citation for a misdemeanor CAN and usually IS considered an arrest. However, the term "arrest" has different meanings depending on the context. Technically, it sounds as if the news story was correct. And even if it wasn't, the media is given a great deal of leeway to be wrong.

- Carl

 

[FlyingRon]

Additionally, a section of law covering "switchblades" might cover a whole lot of things! For instance, out here a "switchblade" also includes gravity knives or any blade that opens by a spring or a flick of the wrist. And, a "dirk or dagger" can include pocket knives, screwdrivers, nail files, ad nauseum.

That's not the Indiana law as near as I can tell. The Indiana law requires opening or propelling "by hand pressure applied to a button, device containing gas, spring, or other device in the handle of the knife."

Gravity knives only come under the discussion of "KNIVES" which covers even straight knives and only appears in the section banning knives at school.

 

[CdwJava]

That's not the Indiana law as near as I can tell. The Indiana law requires opening or propelling "by hand pressure applied to a button, device containing gas, spring, or other device in the handle of the knife."

Gravity knives only come under the discussion of "KNIVES" which covers even straight knives and only appears in the section banning knives at school.

Hence the reason we really need to know what section he was cited for, and some description of the knives in question. Perhaps he was cited for a municipal code violation and not one for violating state law.

- Carl

 

[CdwJava]

Actually, a gravity (butterfly) type knife would appear to be prohibited under the same section as switchblades:

IC 35-47-5-2
Knife with blade that opens automatically or may be propelled
Sec. 2. It is a Class B misdemeanor for a person to manufacture, possess, display, offer, sell, lend, give away, or purchase any knife with a blade that:
(1) opens automatically; or
(2) may be propelled;
by hand pressure applied to a button, device containing gas, spring, or other device in the handle of the knife.

- Carl

 

[seniorjudge]

Citing and releasing a suspect is an arrest. Technically, if you get a speeding ticket, you have been arrested.

I tend to agree with you and we have had some rip roaring arguments on this forum about this very subject.

I was taught in law school (no...really...it was that day I was actually awake in criminal procedure class!) that if a cop was talking to you and you couldn't walk away, then you were under arrest.

"Arrest" comes from the French arrête which literally means "stop".

 

[seniorjudge]

Actually, a gravity (butterfly) type knife would appear to be prohibited under the same section as switchblades:

IC 35-47-5-2
Knife with blade that opens automatically or may be propelled
Sec. 2. It is a Class B misdemeanor for a person to manufacture, possess, display, offer, sell, lend, give away, or purchase any knife with a blade that:
(1) opens automatically; or
(2) may be propelled;
by hand pressure applied to a button, device containing gas, spring, or other device in the handle of the knife.

- Carl

Carl, what does "may be propelled" mean?

 

[CdwJava]

Carl, what does "may be propelled" mean?

If the blade is "propelled" to an open position. If a spring, switch, or other mechanism pushes the blade to ready position, that would seem to be what the term "propelled" refers to.

- Carl

 

[outonbail]

This outlawing of switchblade knives has always puzzled me. What is it that makes the simple automatic opening function of any knife, more dangerous than one which requires finger manipulation of the blade to fully extend?

I always wondered if outlawing the switch blade was influenced more by Hollywood's common practice of only filming the bad guys with these knives. They always showed that close up shot of the hand holding the knife in the folded position, then with a slight hand movement, FLAKKKkk the blade would snap out to the fully extended position almost like magic.
Every bad guy had one of these knives in his leather jacket and whenever a crime was about to happen, there would be the scary music, then that close up shot of the switch blade knife as it snapped open and reflected light off of it's dangerous looking blade. That knife meant business!

But in reality, most switch blade knives I've seen were a real piece of junk and the only person who you would hurt with it, was yourself as the blade's lock always failed whenever any amount of pressure was applied at the blades tip.

So was there ever a time when these knives actually were being found at murder scenes or being surgically removed from people who fell victim to them, or was it outlawed because of a myth spun by some Hollywood screen writer who always associated them with the bad guy?

 

[CdwJava]

This outlawing of switchblade knives has always puzzled me. What is it that makes the simple automatic opening function of any knife, more dangerous than one which requires finger manipulation of the blade to fully extend?

It's probably the speed at which such a knife can be readied and the public perception of its use as a weapon as opposed to a tool.

What puzzles me is why (in California) a knife concealed in a waistband is a potential prison sentence, while a loaded firearm in the same waistband is a potentially cite-and-release misdemeanor!?

So was there ever a time when these knives actually were being found at murder scenes or being surgically removed from people who fell victim to them, or was it outlawed because of a myth spun by some Hollywood screen writer who always associated them with the bad guy?

I think they were popular with a criminal element in society and that was why they were likely outlawed.

Many prohibitions of all kinds are based on popular perception and past misuse/abuse of the item or activity in question. There was once a time when teens could go to lunch, light a smoke on campus and walk out to the parking lot to show their buddy their new hunting rifle (yes, even when I was in high school this was possible). Of course, back then we fought with fists and tended to shake hands or just get over it when the fight was over. Times, they do change.

- Carl

 

[tranquility]

I was taught in law school (no...really...it was that day I was actually awake in criminal procedure class!) that if a cop was talking to you and you couldn't walk away, then you were under arrest.

Since Terry v. Ohio, we would now call that seized as the temporary restriction does not rise to the level of an arrest.