American Fork City v. Pena-Flores

¶ 20 The court of appeals held that, under Utah Code section 76-8-305, a person may not interfere with an arrest or detention, regardless of whether the police action is lawful or not, so long as the officer is acting within the scope of his or her authority and the acts have the indicia of authority. Pena-Flores, 2000 UT App 323, ¶ 11, 14 P.3d 698. The majority today affirms that decision. This holding rests upon a solid policy consideration: the law should not encourage citizens to second-guess police authority or to interfere with police investigations. Disputes over the lawfulness of…