Legal Question in Criminal Law in Minnesota

when is using mace legal

I really have two questions first a friend was arrested

comming off the lake in Minnesota we Will call him Jim. Jim's friend stated that he was the one driving the boat Not Jim.(Jim was drinking that is why his friend was driving). My friend is a guide and would not jepordize his rights to guide. They did not want to hear that and they arrested my friend, they hand cuffed and hog tied him, they than sprayed him with mace not once but twice. They kept him in custody between 20 & 21 hours in the same clothes and with no medical help, Was what what they did legal? Also what does Force Continium mean?


Asked on 7/30/02, 9:31 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Thomas C. Gallagher Gallagher Criminal Defense

Re: when is using mace legal

Police are authorized by law to use reasonable force in the exercise of their duties -- presumably, along a "continuum" of force from mild force to deadly force, depending upon circumstances. If police used mace spray and hand-cuffed and hog-tied the suspects, they should have been presented with a situation that called for that level of response. If so, it was a legally authorized response.

As for being held in custody for 20-21 hours, with no medical help, a person can legally be held that long (and longer) prior to being charged with a crime (assuming probable cause for arrest; arrest warrant; or other legal cause). Police must allow medical help where needed when they know of the need, for people in their custody who they are responsible for.

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Answered on 7/31/02, 3:52 pm


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