The elements of an offense of false imprisonment are:
- an intention to confine a detainee within boundaries arranged by a defendant;
- total restraint of a detainee with no reasonable way of escape;
- the detention must be against a detainee’s will[i];
- the detainee must be aware that s/he is confined illegally and s/he should not have consented to detention;
- restraint or confinement that is unlawful[ii];
- actual restraint of a detainee’s freedom of movement; and
- an interference with a detainee’s liberty[iii].
Recklessness is sufficient to constitute an element of intention. However criminal intent, such as intentional or knowing, must be established to make false imprisonment punishable[iv]. Sometimes an element of specific intent is mandatory under some statutes.
Force used for confinement can be either actual or it can be reasonably apprehended force[v]. An act of detaining and handcuffing a customer and later transporting him/her to some closed room without reasonable ground will constitute an offense of false imprisonment. Similarly, if a store manager or a security officer of a shop directs a customer to go to a security room for questioning about a suspicious currency or check transaction without reasonable ground, it would constitute a less serious kind of false imprisonment.
[i] State v. Berntsen, 295 S.C. 52 (S.C. 1988).
[ii] People v. Kittle, 140 Ill. App. 3d 951 (Ill. App. Ct. 2d Dist. 1986).
[iii] State v. Owen, 24 N.C. App. 598 (N.C. Ct. App. 1975).
[iv] Davis v. State, 365 Ark. 634 (Ark. 2006).
[v] People v. Cohoon, 315 Ill. App. 259 (Ill. App. Ct. 1942).
