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Robbins v. City of Miami Beach
Citations: 613 So. 2d 580; 1993 Fla. App. LEXIS 1621; 1993 WL 31577Docket: Nos. 91-2729, 92-188
Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida; February 8, 1993; Florida; State Appellate Court
Robbins initiated a lawsuit in 1986 against Miami Beach police officers for false arrest, false imprisonment, and intentional infliction of emotional distress, alleging that harassment post-1982 was retaliation for his 1979 complaint against another officer. The trial court ruled that the statute of limitations barred actions based on events prior to 1982, rendering those facts inadmissible for establishing motive in a valid cause of action. Additionally, the court did not provide a requested jury instruction regarding Robbins' right to peacefully resist an unlawful arrest and the potential for an arrest made with probable cause to be pretextual and therefore unlawful. The appellate court reversed the trial court's decision, stating that the exclusion of pre-1982 facts as evidence of motive for the non-barred cause of action was erroneous, as such facts could still be relevant. The court emphasized that a plaintiff in a false arrest case is entitled to jury instructions on the right to resist a pretextual arrest and that accurately reflecting a party's theory of the case in jury instructions is essential. The court reiterated that individuals have the right to verbally challenge police actions without risking arrest and that the common law permits resistance to unlawful arrests without violence. The case was remanded for a new trial.