False Imprisonment Flashcards
What are the elements of false imprisonment?
- Defendant intends 2. To confine Plaintiff 3. Within boundaries 4. Fixed by defendant 5. Plaintiff is conscious of the confinement or is harmed by it.
What is the intent required for false imprisonment?
The intent to confined Plaintiff.
Does an action for false imprisonment fail if the defendant was mistaken as to the Plaintiff?
No
Is a good faith belief that the confinement was justified an excuse?
No
What constitutes confinement?
Where the Plaintiff is prevented from leaving a given area and has no reasonable or safe avenue of escape known to him.
Is blocking Plaintiff path in one direction sufficient to find confinement?
No
Is defendant held liable for false imprisonment if defendant only instigates another to confine the Plaintiff?
Yes
By whatmeans mayconfinement be carried out?
- Actual or apparent barriers 2. Physicalforce, credible threats offorce. 3. Duress sufficient to vitiate Plaintiff’s consent. 4. Under color of legal authority. 5. The refusal to release Plaintiff from a once valid confinement.
Must Plaintiff be aware of the confinement?
Yes, unless Plaintiff suffers some physical harm from the confinement then it is immaterial that, due to some mental or sensory defect or other circumstances, Plaintiff did not know that he was confined.
How are courts split in detaining shoplifters?
- Some courts create a special privilege to detain a shoplifter without an arrest. 2. Most states have enacted statutes giving the shopkeepers a limited privilege to detain the shoplifter in a reasonable manner for a reasonable time to investigate, based on a reasonable suspicion.
When is a person an accessory to false imprisonment?
- When he is an active and knowing participant in procuring or instigating the confinement. 2.
Is defendant an accessory if he merely gives information to others who independently decide whether and how to confine.
No
