STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLANT,
v.
NDIDI O. OSUJI, APPELLEE
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The State appeals the dismissal of charges against Ndidi Osuji for obstructing a law enforcement officer with violence and battery on a law enforcement officer. The court reversed the dismissal, holding that the officers were lawfully performing their duties when they stopped Osuji based on traffic infractions, making the charges valid.
The officers were lawfully performing their duties when they stopped Osuji based on violations of Florida Statutes sections 316.074(2) and 316.155 (turning without signaling and avoiding traffic control by leaving the roadway). Therefore, the information charging Osuji should not have been dismissed, as the elements of the crimes were properly pled.
[1] A law enforcement officer's attempt to stop a vehicle for traffic infractions, including failing to signal a turn and driving through a parking lot to avoid a checkpoint,…
[2] Fleeing from law enforcement officers attempting to effectuate a lawful traffic stop can support charges of obstructing or opposing a law enforcement officer with violenc…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“A conviction for either obstructing a law enforcement officer or battery on a law enforcement officer requires proof that the officer was engaged in the performance of a lawful duty.”
Establishes the essential legal prerequisite for the charged offenses
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceOsuji committed traffic infractions (abrupt turn without signaling and driving through a retirement home parking lot) while attempting to avoid a driv…
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WHATLEY, Judge.
The State appeals the order dismissing the information charging Ndidi O. Osuji with obstructing or opposing a law en forcement officer with violence and battery on a law enforcement officer.1 We reverse.
The charges against Osuji stemmed from Osuji’s fleeing two law enforcement officers who had stopped his vehicle after he committed traffic infractions in an attempt to avoid a driver’s license checkpoint. The officers gave chase and caught up to Osuji while he was scaling a fence. During the struggle to handcuff Osuji, he struck one of the officers. An officer at the checkpoint radioed the arresting officers to stop Osuji after she observed him make an abrupt turn without using a signal just before reaching the checkpoint and drive through a retirement home parking lot.
A conviction for either obstructing a law enforcement officer or battery on a law enforcement officer requires proof that the officer was engaged in the performance of a lawful duty. Taylor v. State, 740 So. 2d 89, 90 (Fla. 1st DCA 1999). The arresting officers were authorized to stop Osuji based upon section 316.074(2), Florida Statutes (2000) (“No person shall drive any vehicle from a roadway to another roadway to avoid obeying the indicated traffic control indicated by such traffic control device.”2) and section 316.155 (requiring use of turn signal). Violation of this statute constitutes a noncriminal traffic infraction, § 316.074(2), .155(5), for which an individual may be stopped by law enforcement. See Willis v. State, 762 So. 2d 1005 (Fla. 5th DCA 2000). Thus, the officers were lawfully attempting to stop Osuji when he committed the offenses with which he was charged. Consequently, the information against Osuji should not have been dismissed.
Accordingly, we reverse the order dismissing the information against Osuji and remand with instructions that it be reinstated.
Reversed and remanded.
FULMER, A.C.J., and STRINGER, J„ Concur. . The order erroneously states that the trial court was granting a motion to suppress.
. Traffic control devices are defined in section 316.003(16), Florida Statutes (2000), as follows: "All signs, signals, markings, and devices, not inconsistent with this chapter, placed or erected by authority of a public body or official having jurisdiction for the purpose of regulating, warning, or guiding traffic.”
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Citator
Cited By
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Nash v. State, 1 So. 3d 346 (Fla. 5th DCA 2009)…PER CURIAM. AFFIRMED. State v. Osuji, 804 So. 2d 501 (Fla. 2d DCA 2001). PALMER, C.J., TORPY and EVANDER, JJ., concur.…
Authorities Cited
- Clauson Conway Taylor v. State, 740 So. 2d 89 (Fla. 1st DCA 1999)
- Marblee Seabrook v. State, 762 So. 2d 1005 (Fla. 5th DCA 2000)
- Willis v. State, 762 So. 2d 1005 (Fla. 5th DCA 2000)