If you are imprisoned by someone who doesn’t have justification or legal authority, then you may be a victim of false imprisonment. False imprisonment takes away your ability to move to where you want to go freely. For example, if someone stops you and will not allow you to leave, this could constitute false imprisonment.
Interestingly, false imprisonment can occur when you are arrested improperly. For instance, if you are arrested by someone without legal authority and then taken into custody, you’ll be a victim of false imprisonment from the time when you were take away and restrained.
There are a few elements of a false imprisonment claim that you should know. To prove your case, you and your attorney will need to show that:
- You were detained willfully
- You were detained without consent
- The detention was not lawful
What are some examples of false imprisonment?
Some examples of false imprisonment include:
- Someone grabbing a person and holding them so that they cannot leave
- An employer detaining a person for questioning for an unreasonable amount of time for a potential theft
- A security guard who detains someone for too long based on the appearance the person has
- Locking a person in a room without the permission to do so
- Medicating patients without consent while using emotional or physical threats
Not all imprisonment is false imprisonment. If you can free yourself or are only detained for a reasonable amount of time, then you may not have a case. It’s important to talk to your attorney to determine if you have a false imprisonment case.