All About California Personal Injury Battery

All You Wanted To Know About California Personal Injury Laws

Personal Injury Claims For False Imprisonment

In earlier times a personal injury claim for false imprisonment really meant imprisonment with bars and walls. Today false imprisonment personal injury claims arise as a result of impeding a person’s movement. Sometimes false imprisonment is referred to as a false arrest, because of the very fact that the arrest prohibits a person’s movement. A personal injury claim for false imprisonment can arise from restricting a person’s movement in his car, or by not permitting a person to leave. A personal injury claim does not arise when the movement is simply blocked in one direction. When the personal injury claimant has an option and can leave by going around an obstacle or by exiting through another door or opening then there is no claim for false imprisonment. Many acts result in criminal prosecution and give rise to a civil action. A false imprisonment claim can arise as a result of a criminal action. When a person is kidnapped the person’s free movement has been restrained and therefore the kidnapper has not only committed a crime, but the victim has a right to bring a personal injury claim and sue for false imprisonment. The theory of false imprisonment is based on state mind, and it appears that there can be no personal injury claim for false imprisonment when the personal injury claimant is not aware of the fact that he or she has no viable means of exercising the right to free movement, but there are some court decisions which suggest that a personal injury claim can arise even when the person does not know of the confinement. These decisions arise as a result of children and the mentally incompetent. Even though they did not have the mental capacity to know they were confined and did not have the necessary freedom to move about they were deemed to have a right to make a personal injury claim. Compensation for personal injury arising from false imprisonment is for the personal injury claimant’s loss of time, for physical discomfort, for inconvenience, for physical illness, for injury and for death as well as for mental suffering and humiliation. Punitive and exemplary damages are also often warranted in a personal injury claim for false arrest.

False arrest can be a result of physical barriers which impedes the personal injury claimant’s movements or it can be threats of physical harm which intimidates the personal injury claimant to comply. A fear of the application of force is sufficient to support a personal injury claim for false arrest when no threat of force is explicitly made. The personal injury claimant is not required to risk personal harm to make a personal injury claim for false arrest, but the personal injury claimant is required to be confined against his will. When the personal injury claimant agrees to remain in a room or accompany another of his own free will then there can be no false imprisonment. There have been personal injury claims for false arrest where there was a threat to the personal injury claimant’s property such as the taking of a woman’s purse. False arrest also results where the personal injury claimant believes the wrongdoer has the legal authority to restrain and the personal injury claimant submits to the demands of the wrongdoer, but it later turns out the wrongdoer had no legal authority to restrain him. A claim for false arrest is also not viable when the personal injury claimant agreed to enter into an agreement that would necessary result in confinement for a specified period of time. One such example would be where a miner agreed to be placed down a shaft with the understanding that he would not be pulled back up for a specified period of time. For false imprisonment to occur the wrongdoer has to intend to confine the personal injury claimant or would the wrongdoer must have been negligent and caused harm to the personal injury claimant. No knowledge of the personal injury claimant is required by the wrongdoer. The confined personal injury claimant can be a stranger to the wrongdoer. A reasonable and innocent mistake as to the identity of the personal injury claimant is not a defense. The wrongdoer is liable regardless of whether it was an innocent mistake or was acting for the personal injury claimants own good. The wrongdoer can rely on the mistake or benevolent actions to mitigate damages and the opposite is true malice and knowledge can be used to increase damages to be awarded the personal injury claimant.

In California and most states that are also statutes and case law which directly address claims against the state in cases of false arrest and false imprisonment, which are designed to limit the amount of compensation that a personal injury claimant can receive.

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