.....snip
"....We conclude that the law of this Commonwealth, including
the common law of England incorporated into our Code by 1-10,
does not provide a basis for recognizing a common law right to
use force to resist an illegal detention. In the absence of
authority requiring such a right, we perceive no reason for
enlarging, by judicial decision, the scope of the common law on
this subject.
Under the common law, a citizen generally is permitted to
use reasonable force to resist an illegal arrest. See Banner v.
Commonwealth, 204 Va. 640, 646-47, 133 S.E.2d 305, 309-10
(1963); Brown v. Commonwealth, 27 Va. App. 111, 116-17, 497
S.E.2d 527, 530 (1998). The underlying rationale supporting
this common law right is the "provocation" of an illegal arrest,
which operates to excuse an assault directed at thwarting the
unlawful arrest. See Rodgers v. State, 373 A.2d 944, 947 (Md.
1977); State v. Hobson, 577 N.W.2d 825, 830 (Wis. 1998). An
unlawful arrest was considered a great provocation at common law
because of the dire consequences, including incarceration of
extreme duration, which often resulted before an accused was
permitted a trial for the charged offense. See State v.
Valentine, 935 P.2d 1294, 1300-01 (Wash. 1997); see also State
v. Gardiner, 814 P.2d 568, 572 (Utah 1991); Hobson, 577 N.W.2d
at 835.
http://www.courts.state.va.us/opinions/opnscvtx/1012526.txt
