If you've found yourself in the daunting position of being accused of a crime involving restricting someone's freedom in California, it's crucial to understand the potential severity of the charges. The gravity of your situation and how you are charged largely depend on the circumstances surrounding it. This underscores the urgency of your situation and the need for immediate action.
False imprisonment (Penal Code 236 PC) and kidnapping (Penal Code 207 PC) are not just two different crimes; they also carry significantly distinct severity and potential life-altering penalties. Understanding these differences is crucial for your defense, as it can determine the course of your life in the coming years.
While both offenses involve detaining someone without their consent, the key distinction lies in whether the victim was moved a significant distance and how force or fear was used. Understanding these differences is crucial, especially when considering the potential penalties and strategies for your defense.
Penal Code 236 PC, California's false imprisonment law, and Penal Code 207 PC, California's kidnapping law, are often confused and commonly misunderstood. Let's clear up these misconceptions so that you can feel more informed and less confused about your legal situation.
Many people believe that Penal Code 236 PC, the false imprisonment law, leads to incarceration in a jail or prison. While false imprisonment may involve such penalties, it generally doesn't. Simply put, false imprisonment occurs when you detain, restrain, or confine someone against their will. Felony false imprisonment occurs when you use force or fear to accomplish the detention, confinement, or restraint.
Kidnapping occurs when you use force or fear to move someone a substantial distance. This means that you can't kidnap someone without also violating California's false imprisonment law. If you've moved someone against their will, you have restricted their liberty, which is the primary issue in a false imprisonment case.
Thus, even if a prosecutor charges you with kidnapping, a jury could find you not guilty of that offense and yet decide to convict you of false imprisonment instead.
What Is False Imprisonment?
False imprisonment (PC 236) occurs when you unlawfully violate another person's freedom of movement by restraining, detaining, or confining them.
Importantly, false imprisonment does not require physical force. Acts such as locking someone in a room, blocking their ability to exit a space, or even threats that prevent the person from leaving can qualify as false imprisonment.
PC 236 is a "wobbler," meaning it can be charged as either a misdemeanor or a felony. If no violence, menace, or fraud was involved, false imprisonment is usually charged as a misdemeanor, punishable by:
- Up to one year in county jail
- A fine of up to $1,000
- Probation, in some cases
However, if false imprisonment involves violence, deceit, or other aggravating factors, it can escalate to a felony. A felony conviction can lead to:
- 16 months, 2 years, or 3 years in state prison
- Potential additional fines
Penal Code 236 PC says, "False imprisonment is the unlawful violation of the personal liberty of another."
What Constitutes Kidnapping?
Kidnapping (PC 207) is a much more severe crime. To be charged with kidnapping, the prosecution must prove that you not only restricted the victim's freedom but that you moved them a substantial distance against their will using force or fear.
This movement must go beyond merely restraining the victim; it must involve physical relocation that is neither incidental nor trivial. For instance, grabbing someone and dragging them from one store to another, or moving them into a vehicle, could meet the threshold for kidnapping.
Kidnapping is always charged as a felony offense, punishable by:
- 3, 5, or 8 years in state prison; and
- A strike on your record under California's Three Strikes Law.
Kidnapping can also carry enhanced penalties if it involves special circumstances, such as:
- Kidnapping for ransom or reward
- Kidnapping a child under 14
- Kidnapping to facilitate another crime, such as robbery or sexual assault
These aggravated cases can result in even harsher sentences, sometimes life in prison without parole.
What Does Kidnapping Law Say?
PC 207 kidnapping law in California says, "(a) Every person who forcibly, or by any other means of instilling fear, steals or takes, or holds, detains, or arrests any person in this state, and carries the person into another country, state, or county, or another part of the same county, is guilty of kidnapping.
(b) Every person, who for the purpose of committing any act defined in Section 288, hires, persuades, entices, decoys, or seduces by false promises, misrepresentations, or the like, any child under the age of 14 years to go out of this country, state, or county, or into another part of the same county, is guilty of kidnapping.
(c) Every person who forcibly, or by any other means of instilling fear, takes or holds, detains, or arrests any person, with a design to take the person out of this state, without having established a claim, according to the laws of the United States, or of this state, or who hires, persuades, entices, decoys, or seduces by false promises, misrepresentations, or the like, any person to go out of this state, or to be taken or removed therefrom, for the purpose and with the intent to sell that person into slavery or involuntary servitude, or otherwise to employ that person for their use, or to the use of another, without the free will and consent of that persuaded person, is guilty of kidnapping.
(d) Every person who, being out of this state, abducts or takes by force or fraud any person contrary to the law of the place where that act is committed, and brings, sends, or conveys that person within the limits of this state, and is afterwards found within the limits thereof, is guilty of kidnapping.
(e) For purposes of those types of kidnapping requiring force, the amount of force required to kidnap an unresisting infant or child is the amount of physical force required to take and carry the child away a substantial distance for an illegal purpose or with an illegal intent.
(f) Subdivisions (a) to (d), inclusive, do not apply to any of the following:
(1) To any person who steals, takes, entices away, detains, conceals, or harbors any child under the age of 14 years, if that act is taken to protect the child from danger of imminent harm.
(2) To any person acting under Section 834 or 837."
False Imprisonment vs. Kidnapping
The primary distinction between false imprisonment and kidnapping is the element of movement. While both crimes involve restraining someone against their will, kidnapping is defined as taking that person a significant distance through the use of force, fear, or fraud.
This added element of relocation increases the risk to the victim, thereby making the crime substantially more serious in the eyes of the law.
For example, if you block someone from leaving a room during an argument, you might be charged with false imprisonment. But if you forcefully drag them out of the building and into your car, this additional act of moving them a substantial distance could elevate the offense to kidnapping.
The seriousness of kidnapping is reflected in its harsher penalties. California law views the act of forcibly relocating a victim as amplifying the potential danger, not just to the victim but to society as a whole.
How a Defense Attorney Can Help
Because the consequences of a kidnapping conviction are so severe, a skilled California criminal defense attorney will often examine the circumstances of the alleged offense carefully to determine whether the instance of restraining a victim could be downgraded from kidnapping to the less severe charge of false imprisonment.
A good attorney will review the evidence in your case, including witness statements, the circumstances surrounding the alleged movement of the victim, and the level of force or fear involved. Depending on these details, your attorney may be able to:
- Question the element of movement - If the alleged movement of the victim was incidental or trivial, your attorney could argue that the conduct does not meet the legal definition of kidnapping. For instance, moving someone a few feet within the same location may not suffice for kidnapping, the same as forcing them into a vehicle and driving away.
- Negotiate for reduced charges - Prosecutors are sometimes open to reducing a charge from kidnapping to false imprisonment, especially if the victim was not harmed and the movement was minimal. False imprisonment, particularly when charged as a misdemeanor, carries far lighter penalties than kidnapping. This kind of charge reduction could mean the difference between a criminal record with state prison time versus one with lesser jail time or probation.
For more information, contact Eisner Gorin LLP, a criminal defense law firm in Los Angeles, CA.
Related Content:
If you have one phone call from jail, call us! If you are facing criminal charges,