Shambor v. State
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IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE CRAIG SHAMBOR, Defendant Below, Appellant, v. STATE OF DELAWARE, Plaintiff Below, Appellee. § § § § § § § § § § § No. 223, 2002 Court Below: Superior Court of the State of Delaware in and for New Castle County I.D. No. 0107004481 Submitted: July 23, 2002 Decided: October 4, 2002 Before VEASEY, Chief Justice, WALSH and BERGER, Justices. ORDER This 4th day of October, on consideration of the briefs of the parties, it appears to the Court that: 1) Craig Shambor appeals his conviction, following a bench trial in the Court of Common Pleas, of resisting arrest. He argues on appeal to this Court, as he did to the Superior Court, that he was charged with the wrong crime because his arrest had been completed and he was in police custody when he committed the acts that led to the charge. 2) On July 8, 2001, the New Castle County Police responded to an altercation between Shambor and his neighbor. When the responding officers heard Shambor tell his neighbor, You better watch yourself, they arrested him for terroristic threatening. Shambor cooperated with the officers while being handcuffed and placed in the police car. On the way to the station, however, Shambor attempted to kick out the rear windows of the police car. As a result, he was charged with resisting arrest. 3) Shambor argues that his arrest was completed when he was placed in the police car and that his conduct while in the police car, if actionable at all, was an attempted escape. By statute, [a] person is guilty of resisting arrest when the person intentionally prevents or attempts to prevent a peace officer from effecting an arrest or detention of the person ... or intentionally flees from a peace officer who is effecting an arrest. 1 The word arrest is defined, by statute, as the taking of a person into custody in order that the person may be forthcoming to answer for the commission of a crime. 2 The dictionary definition is very similar: arrest is [t]he taking or keeping of a person in custody by legal authority. 3 1 11 Del. C. § 1257. 2 11 Del. C. § 1901(1). 3 Black s Law Dictionary (Bryan A. Garner 7th Ed. 1999). 2 4) Both definitions recognize that an arrest is not a single act, but rather a process by which a person is brought into custody. In this case, although Shambor was in a police car and on his way to the police station, a rational trier of fact could have concluded that he was still in the process of being taken into custody when Shambor attempted to kick out the car window.4 NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS ORDERED that the judgment of the Superior Court be, and the same hereby is, AFFIRMED. BY THE COURT: /s/ Carolyn Berger Justice 4 See: State v. Bolden, 801 P.2d 863, 864 (Or. App. 1991)(Defendant was convicted of resisting arrest, after being transported to the police station in a police car, based on his struggle with the arresting officer in the parking lot of the police station and at the booking. The court held that the prohibition against resisting arrest is applicable to the entire course of events during which an officer effectuates and maintains custody over an arrestee for purposes of charging the individual with an offense. (Internal quotations omitted.) 3
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