False Imprisonment Defenses. Consent, justification, and self-defense or defense of others are all defenses to hostage false imprisonment.
Overview. A person commits false imprisonment when they engage in the act of restraint on another person which confines that person in a restricted area. False imprisonment is an act punishable under criminal law as well as under tort law.
An actor commits unlawful detention if the actor intentionally or knowingly, without authority of law, and against the will of an individual, detains or restrains the individual.
The most common defense is consent. In other words, the victim voluntarily agreed to being confined.
Examples of false imprisonment: You prevent someone from leaving by grabbing that person's arm; You lock someone in a bedroom; You tie someone to a chair. Note, however, that if the person consented to any of these acts, it wouldn't be false imprisonment.
The misdemeanor offense of false imprisonment under California Penal Code Section 237(a) PC requires a prosecutor to establish the following elements: The defendant intentionally and unlawfully restrained, detained or confined another person. The defendant made the person stay or go somewhere against that person's will ...
False imprisonment by fraud or deceit consists of curtailing someone else's liberty by lying to them. The fraud or deceit must be intentional. For instance, if you tell a co-worker to stay in his office due to a bomb threat, believing it to be true, you haven't committed false imprisonment even if you are mistaken.