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Enright v Groves
CO Ct of App. 1977
Author:- Sam
Biers
Facts: After responding to a dog running
without a leash, Officer Groves approached Mr. Enright. She
asked if she could help him to which Groves demanded her driver’s
license. Mr. Enright offered her name and
address. Groves ordered her to furnish her driver’s
license or go to jail. When she replied “Isn’t
this ridiculous?” Groves grabbed her arm and placed her
under arrest. She was booked for violation of the dog leash
ordinance and subsequently convicted for the same.
Issue: Whether the arrest and imprisonment
was made lawfully or not?
Holding: No, it was false arrest false
imprisonment.
Procedure: Trial ct returned verdict for Mr.
Enright. Affirmed
Rule: False arrest arises when one is taken
into custody by a person who claims but does not have proper
legal authority. Torts § 11 (4th) Conviction
for the crime is a complete defense to a subsequent claim of
false arrest.
Ct. Rationale: The officer did not arrest
the plaintiff for the dog leash violation, he requested her to
produce her license or go to jail. Lacking any legal
authority to arrest for no producing a driver’s license, any
refusal to comply was not an offense charged and any arrest
therefrom would be false arrest.
P. A. : The arrest and detention were false
because the officer lacked legal authority to do so.
D. A. : The arrest and conviction for the
dog violation should provide a probable cause showing that the
arrested person’s identification was required as an
administrative procedure.
Sina qua non: Without which not. An
indispensable condition.
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