Code of Alabama
Ala. Code § 13A-10-53 (2026)
Defense.
✓ official Alabama Legislature (ALISON) text, current July 2026
It is an affirmative defense to prosecution under this article that the arrest was unlawful or that the person operating the motor vehicle was aware of the signal from the law enforcement officer to bring the vehicle to a stop and the person stopped his or her vehicle within a reasonable time and at a reasonable location based on the facts and circumstances of the stop.
(Act 2009-616, p. 1779, §4.)
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 2
cases (1 in the last 5 years), 2020–2023 · leading case: Duncan v. Bibb Cnty. Sheriff's Dep't (N.D. Ala. 2020).
Duncan v. Bibb Cnty. Sheriff's Dep't (N.D. Ala. 2020). “Therefore, Duncan argues that fact, combined with an unlawful arrest to be an affirmative defense to prosecution for fleeing from the initial traffic stop with Officer Gray under Ala. Code § 13A-10-53. Assuming that Duncan did not commit a new crime merely by fleeing the scene,…”
Cooper v. Lister (S.D. Ala. 2023). “Clay cites Ala. Code § 13A-10-53 as giving him an affirmative defense to prosecution under § 13A-10-52, where the arrest is "unlawful.”
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