DE · jury_instructions
Del. P.J.I. Civ. § 13.9
False Arrest / False Imprisonment – Arrest by Officer Without Warrant
ARREST WITHOUT WARRANT
Delaware law provides that a peace officer may arrest a person without a
warrant if the officer has witnessed, or has reasonable ground to believe that the
person has committed, a crime in the officer’s presence. If the officer has reasonable
ground to believe that a felony has been committed, the officer may arrest a suspect
whether or not the officer was present at the scene of the crime and whether or not a
felony was actually committed. An officer may also make a warrantless arrest if a
felony has been committed by the person even though the officer had no reasonable
ground at the time of the arrest to believe the person committed the felony.
Reasonable ground for an arrest exists whenever all the facts and
circumstances within the officer’s knowledge are reasonably reliable and sufficient
to allow a prudent person to conclude that the suspect has committed or is
committing a crime. Mere suspicion of a criminal offense, without something more,
does not justify an arrest.
Provenance
- Source
- courts.delaware.gov
- Retrieved
- 2026-09-23
- Edition
- civ-2025-10-22
- Content hash
244d554088abffa5495038204ddbe9c002560cc535cc59bdacba87e346eac275
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