If you or someone in your family is concerned about the possibility of being arrested for a crime, you may be wondering if evading arrest or running from the police is a crime in itself.

The answer is yes, evading arrest is a crime.

Under Texas law known as Texas Penal Code § 38.04, the offense of evading arrest or evading detention occurs if a person intentionally flees from a person that he or she knows is a peace officer or federal special investigator who’s attempting to lawfully arrest or detain him or her.

What are the punishments for evading arrest in Texas?

If you intentionally flee from a police officer on foot when the police officer is trying to lawfully detain or arrest you, that is a Class A misdemeanor.

Punishments for evading police arrest as a Class A misdemeanor include spending up to one year in county jail and paying up to $4,000 in fines.

However, the offense becomes what is known as a state jail felony if the offender had been convicted previously for the same offense. Texas state jail felony punishments include spending at least 180 days and up to two years in a state jail and paying a fine of as much as $10,000.

In addition, the offense of evading arrest becomes a third-degree felony if the offender used a vehicle while in flight; or if another person suffered serious bodily injury as a direct result of an attempt by the officer or investigator, from whom the offender is fleeing, to apprehend the offender while that person is in flight.

For instance, according to KWTX TV in Waco, a Central Texas man recently was arrested and charged with, among other offenses, evading arrest with a vehicle and two counts of evading arrest with a vehicle after a previous conviction. The first two counts are both third-degree felonies, and the last is a state jail felony.

Evading arrest or detention also becomes a third-degree felony if the offender uses a tire deflation device against an officer while in flight.

In Texas, punishments for a third-degree felony include two to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.

The offense becomes a second-degree felony–even worse–if another person suffers death as a direct result of an attempt by the officer or investigator, from whom the offender is fleeing, to apprehend the offender while that person is in flight.

It is also a second-degree felony if another person suffers serious bodily injury as a direct result of the offender using a tire deflation device while in flight.

In Texas, punishments for a second-degree felony include two to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.

What are the legal defenses against a criminal charge of evading arrest?

A skilled criminal defense lawyer, such as those at Houston’s Neal Davis Law Firm, can employ several legal defense strategies, depending on the circumstances of the evading arrest case.

For instance, your defense lawyer may argue that the police did not act properly to ensure your due process under the law. They may have stopped you illegally and without just cause.

Indeed, the legality or illegality of a police initial detention can be crucial for defendants who are charged with evading arrest.

If police lacked reasonable suspicion or probable cause to detain you in the first place, your defense lawyer can assert that stopping you lacked legitimacy. 

With that in mind, your efforts to evade detention can be perceived as reasonable and justifiable.

Also, keep in mind that prosecutors have the burden of proof when it comes to establishing your intent – that is, establishing that you deliberately and intentionally ran, drove away or otherwise fled from an officer who was trying to detain you or arrest you.

A State of Texas prosecutor must prove that you had the clear intent to evade police, and such proof must be beyond a reasonable doubt–a high standard of proof.

If a prosecutor cannot prove your intent beyond a reasonable doubt, your case could be dismissed, perhaps even before trial.

Keeping prosecutors’ burden of proof in mind, your defense lawyer may argue that you were not properly notified to await arrest, or that it was unclear that officers were in pursuit of you.

You may not have even noticed a police officer nearby. Or perhaps you did notice the police but mistook police officers’ presence as being for a different situation that did not involve you.

You even could claim you were intoxicated at the time you fled, which would mitigate a police claim that you deliberately evaded arrest.

Again, such defenses depend on the individual circumstances of your case.

It’s also possible that your defense lawyer can argue that you may have felt compelled to flee because of circumstances beyond your control, such as a threat to your safety. A defense of fleeing due to duress or necessity must show that you had no reasonable alternative but to evade arrest in order to protect yourself from harm.

Perhaps you were driving a vehicle amid speeding, heavy traffic and were afraid to pull over despite police presence behind you. If you continued driving for a time until you could safely stop, that might not be construed as evading arrest.

Your defense lawyer also may argue that you simply did not attempt to evade police. After all,  not every effort to avoid law officers constitutes “evading arrest.”

Perhaps you did not engage in deliberate and willful flight, but rather took actions  unrelated to avoiding an arrest. This would involve establishing that your actions were not in direct response to a law officer trying to detain or arrest you.

Your defense attorney also can argue that police actions toward you were simply a case of mistaken identity. If police mistakenly considered you a suspect, then you could not be blamed for evading arrest for a crime you did not commit. Of course, this involves proving that you had an alibi or that otherwise you were not a legitimate suspect for a crime.

Get an experienced Houston-area criminal defense attorney

If you or a loved one in the Houston area face a charge of evading arrest or some other criminal charge, you must get an experienced criminal defense lawyer. 

That means contacting us at the award-winning Neal Davis Law Firm – today.

Reach out today to arrange a confidential consultation for your case.