Legal Definitions - subterfuge arrest

A subterfuge arrest occurs when law enforcement officers arrest an individual for one reason, often a minor offense or an existing warrant, but their true underlying purpose is to investigate or gather evidence for a different, more serious crime for which they currently lack sufficient legal grounds (such as probable cause or a warrant). In essence, the arrest itself is used as a deceptive tactic or a pretext to achieve an investigative goal that would otherwise be impermissible.

• Example 1: Using a Minor Warrant as a Pretext

  Detectives are investigating a complex financial fraud scheme and suspect a particular individual, Mr. Davies, is a key player. However, they do not yet have enough evidence to obtain an arrest warrant for the fraud. Upon checking their records, they discover an old, unpaid traffic ticket warrant for Mr. Davies from a neighboring jurisdiction. The detectives decide to arrest Mr. Davies on the minor traffic warrant, intending to question him extensively about the financial fraud once he is in custody at the station.

  This illustrates a subterfuge arrest because the officers' primary motivation for arresting Mr. Davies was not to address the minor traffic violation, but to use that arrest as a means to detain him and interrogate him about the more serious, unrelated financial fraud investigation for which they lacked probable cause.

• Example 2: Fabricating a Minor Offense for a Major Investigation

  Police officers have intelligence suggesting Ms. Rodriguez is involved in a large-scale drug trafficking operation, but they have not gathered enough evidence for a search warrant for her home or an arrest warrant for drug offenses. They observe Ms. Rodriguez briefly step off a curb while waiting for a bus, technically jaywalking in a busy downtown area. Although jaywalking is a minor infraction typically handled with a warning or a small fine, the officers decide to arrest her for jaywalking. Their intention is to bring her to the police station, process her, and attempt to question her about the drug trafficking operation while she is in custody.

  This constitutes a subterfuge arrest because the officers used the minor offense of jaywalking as a pretext to arrest Ms. Rodriguez, with their actual goal being to investigate the more serious drug trafficking crime for which they did not have sufficient legal justification to arrest her directly. The arrest for jaywalking served as a deceptive means to achieve an investigative end.