Aрpellant, Andrew Glover, was convicted by a jury in the Circuit Court for Dorchester County (Johnson, J.) of battery and hindering a police officer. He was sentenced to concurrent four year terms of imprisonment, with two years suspended, and three years probation upon release. On appeal, appellant’s sole contention is that the trial court erred in refusing to instruct the jury on the law of fresh рursuit. For the reasons stated below, we affirm.
*396 Facts
On January 26, 1990, Katherine Glover, appellant’s mother, drove up to uniformed Hurlock, Maryland Police Officer John Williams, as he was walking to his marked patrol car after stopping another driver for a traffic violation in Hurlock. Ms. Glover challenged Officer Williams to a race, saying “Let’s race, dammit.” She then “took off very fast” near some pedestrians and sped away.
Officer Williams returned to his patrol car and followed Ms. Glover’s car, with his emergency lights on. He followed her about a mile out of town (and out of his jurisdiction) to an open field where she had stopped and gotten out of her car near a crowd of people including appellant and other relatives.- (Ms. Glover and her family members apparently often gathered in this field, which shе testified, had “belonged to her ancestors,” to drink and socialize.) Officer Williams stopped his car about twenty yards behind Ms. Glover and asked her to come over to him with her driver’s license and registration.
Appellant then walked toward Officer Williams; the officer told appellant to stop. The officer again requested Ms. Glover to come over; appellant continued to walk toward thе officer and “bumped” into the officer “with his [appellant’s] chest.” Officer Williams told appellant to “get away,” but appellant responded by saying, “What are you going to do about it,” and then once again bumped Officer Williams with his chest, causing the officer’s hat to fall to the ground. Officer Williams then attempted to arrest appellant for “hindering” him. A struggle ensued 1 and appellant punched the officer and gouged him in the eye. Others in the crowd attacked the officer and tore his clothing. The struggle finally stopped when Officer Williams pointed his gun at appellant; appellant and some *397 of his friends then ran away. Appellant was arrested later that day; his mother was arrested and convicted of traffic violations.
Although conceding they did not check any timepiece, appellant, his mother, and his two aunts all testified that Officer Williams did not arrive at the open field until “eight to ten minutes” after Ms. Glover arrived. Appellant further testified that he knew that Officer Williams was out of the officer’s jurisdiction and appellant was concerned as to why the officer wanted to talk to his mother. Officer Williams testified that he started his pursuit within fifteen seconds after Ms. Glover sped away from him, was never more than а “quarter of a mile” behind her, and lost sight of her only once as she drove out of town.
Fresh Pursuit — the Statute
Appellant bases his entire case on the dispute as to the timing of the pursuit. He claims that the time lag of eight to ten minutes showed that Officer Williams was no longer in fresh pursuit when he arrived at the field. Thus, appellant argues that the officer, out of his jurisdiction and not in fresh pursuit, illegally accosted Ms. Glover, which permitted appellant to resist an unlawful stop of his mother and an unlawful arrest of himself.
At trial, appellant requested “as an instruction the language under” Md.Ann.Code art. 27, § 599 (1957, 1987 Repl. Vol.) “where fresh pursuit is defined.” That statutory definition of fresh pursuit, however, applies only in the context of interstate pursuits and is a part of the subtitle pertaining solely to the authority of officers of other states to make arrests in Maryland. Thus, the requеsted instruction was not appropriate here. The court below, recognizing this, refused to give the instruction because it “would do nothing more than confuse the jury.” Appellant objected to the trial court’s refusal to give an instruction to the jury “on fresh pursuit and an instruction on jurisdiction of a police officer or authority of a police officer ... outside of his jurisdiction.” Although unmentioned by appellant at *398 trial, there is a companion Maryland statute governing intrastate fresh pursuit. Md.Ann.Code art. 27, § 602A(a)(2) (1957, 1987 Repl.Vol.).
Adequacy of the Bequest for a Fresh Pursuit Instruction
Appellant now concedes that requesting the instruction under Section 599 was inappropriate, but contends that this flaw in the proposed instruction was not a sufficient reason for the trial court to refuse to give any instruction at all on a relevant legal issue in the case. The State maintains that the requested instruction was inaccurate and potentially misleading and so the trial court’s refusal to give it was not error. Thus our initial inquiry is whether the request made by the defendant here triggered an obligation by the circuit court to. give a fresh pursuit instruction, assuming such an instruction would have been relevant.
Where a requested jury instruction is “potentially misleading”
Hunt v. State,
On its face, the difference between a jury instruction which is “potentially misleading” and one which is “technically erroneous” is not crystal clear. Our review of the above cited cases, however, suggests that upon examination of their facts and the requested jury instructions, a worka *399 ble principle emerges as to when refusal to modify an erroneous instruction is error.
In
Hunt,
the defendant requested an instruction that he “would” serve 20 years in prison for a handgun violation “in addition to” the life sentence the jury might impose for the murder conviction.
In contrast, in
Privette v. State,
Therefore, we believe that the following principle emerges from the case law. If the premise of the instruction requested by defendant is relevant and sanctioned by law, rather than one contrary to it, a circuit court has an obligation to instruct on the point even if the language of the instruction offered by the defendant is in some respects erroneous. Thе premise here — the doctrine of fresh pursuit — is clearly a relevant defense sanctioned by law, rather than one contrary to it. Accordingly, even though an instruction based on the exact language “under” art. 27, § 599 was erroneous, the circuit court had an obligation to instruct correctly on the doctrine of fresh pursuit
{i.e.,
pursuant to art. 27, § 602A(a)(2)) if the issue was supported by the evidence, thereby making it relevant.
See Chaplin v. Cruikshanks,
2 H. & J. 215, 216 (1808);
Mason v. State,
Relevancy of the Requested Instruction
Our next inquiry, therefore, is whether the fresh pursuit doctrine is a relevant issue in this case. If, as a matter of law, the officer was acting in fresh pursuit or, even if he was not acting in fresh pursuit, appellant’s conduct was not justified then the fresh pursuit doctrine is irrelevant and there was no need for a jury instruction as to it.
(1)
The common law doctrine of fresh pursuit allows a police officer to pursue and arrest a person outside of the officer’s geographic jurisdiction, without a warrant, for
*401
misdemeanors committed in his presence
within a reasonable time
thereafter.
Gattus v. State,
It seems clear that the maximum possible ten minute time lag here cannot be construed as an “unreasonable delay.” Generally, there is no specific rule as to what constitutes such a delay; rather, reasonableness must be determined under the particular circumstances of each case.
Swain v. State,
Whether, as a matter of law, the “continuous” pursuit requirement was met here is more problematic. The rationale for this requirement is that if police cease their pursuit, the policy permitting extra jurisdictional arrest (to permit apprehension which wоuld be impossible if other authorities had to be notified) vanishes.
Swain v. State,
(2)
Appellant contends that if Officer Williams was not acting in fresh pursuit, he “illegally accosted” 2 Ms. Glover. *403 For this reason, appellant claims he was authorized to resist an illegal stop of his mother and an illegal arrest of himself, unless the officer was acting in fresh pursuit. Accordingly, he asserts a fresh pursuit instruction was necessary. We hold that regardless of whether the officer acted in fresh pursuit, appellant’s conduct was not justified. Accordingly, no fresh pursuit instruction was necessary and the trial court’s failure to give such an instruction was not error.
In support of his claim, appellant relies on
Kraft v. State,
When appellant came to the aid of his mother, Officer Williams had merely requested her license and registration. Not only were there no words of arrest, Officer Williams had not even acted to detain Ms. Glover. Moreover, it is undisputed that absolutely no form of physical force or coercion was ever used by Officer Williams against Ms. Glover. It was this factual circumstance that appellant *404 faced. Under these facts, no use of force against Officer Williams was reasonable, much less acts constituting battery.
Nor was appellant’s hindering of the officer justified even if the underlying arrest was illegal. The crux of appellant’s claim to the contrary is the argument that the officer, if making an illegal arrest, was not performing a duty.
3
There is no Maryland law directly on point. It is clear, however, that a police “duty” sufficient to trigger a hindering charge need not be an arrest.
Id.
at 405, n. 2,
*405
In
United States v. Heliczer,
[Ajppellant assumes that the scope of the agents’ official duties is co-extensive with their power to arrest. But this is not so____ “Engaged in * * * performance of official duties” is simply acting within the scope of what the agent is employed to do. The test is whether the agent is acting within that compass or is engaging in a personal frolic of his own. It cannot be said that an agent who has made an arrest loses his official capacity if the arrest is subsequently adjudged to be unlawful.
Id. Accord State v. Hatton,
In
State v. Biller,
When the rationale of these cases is applied here, it is clear that Officer Williams was at all times acting in the performance of an official duty. He did not stop or arrest Ms. Glover on his own “personal frolic.”
Heliczer,
The conclusion we reach here with regard to unjustified reaction to an (arguably) unlawful arrest is entirely consistent with the modern trend in the case law. Many jurisdictions have totally abrogated the common law rule which permits a citizen to resist an illegal arrest of himself.
See e.g., Commonwealth v. French,
Morеover, no Maryland court has sanctioned the right of a third person to aid another in resisting arrest and the cases holding that a third person may come to the defense
*408
of another,
e.g. Tipton v. State,
In sum, we hold that the doctrine of fresh pursuit was not a relevant issue at trial and so the trial judge’s failure to give an instruction as to it was not error.
JUDGMENTS AFFIRMED; COSTS TO BE PAID BY APPELLANT.
Notes
. Although appellant testified that the physical struggle only ensued after the officer "pushed” him, in light of the jury’s decision to convict appellant of bаttery, it is clear that the jury rejected his claim of self defense.
. We have held that there is no right to resist an “illegal stop.”
Barnhard v. State,
. The elements of the common law offense of obstructing or hindering a police officer are:
(1) A police officer engaged in the performance of a duty;
(2) An act, or perhaps an omission, by the accused which obstructs or hinders the officer in the performance of that duty;
(3) Knowledge by the accused of facts comprising element (1); and
(4) Intent to obstruct or hinder the officer by the act or omission constituting element (2).
Cover v. State,
. The Biller court was interpreting a Connecticut hindering statute which provided that:
A person is guilty of interfering with an officer when he obstructs, resists, hinders or endangers any peace officer or fireman in the performance of his duties.
Conn.Gen.Statutes 53a-167a(a) (emphasis added).
. The following twelve states have reached this conclusion by judicial decision:
Miller v. State,
Nineteen states reached the decision through legislative enactment: Ala.Code § 13A-3-28 (1982); Ark.Stat.Ann. § 41-512 (1977); Cal.Penal Code § 834a (Deering 1971); Colo.Rev.Stat. § 18-8-103(2) (1978); Conn.Gen.Stat, § 53a-23 (1981); Del.Code Ann. tit. 11, § 464(d) (1979); Fla.Stat. § 776.051(1) (1989); Ill.Ann.Stat. ch. 38, § 7-7 (Smith-Hurd 1972); Iowa Code § 804.12 (1980) (common law holding codified); Mont.Code Ann. § 45-3-108 (1981); Neb.Rev.Stat. § 28-1409(2) (1979); N.H.Rev.Stat.Ann. § 594:5 (1974); N.Y.Penal Law § 35.27 (McKinney 1975); Or.Rev.3tat. § 161.260 (1981); 18 Pa.Cons. Stat.Ann. 505(a), (b)(l)(i) (Purdon 1983); R.I.Gen.Laws § 12-7-10 (1981) ; S.D.Codified Laws Ann. § 22-11-5 (1978); Tex.Penal Code Ann. § 9.31(b)(2), 38.03 (Vernon 1974); Va.Code Ann. § 18.2-460 (1982) ; See also Model Penal Code § 3.04(2)(a)(i) (1974).
. The Queen v. Tooley, (1709), 2 Ld.Raym. 1296, 92 Eng.Rep. 349 (1709).
