What is False Imprisonment? How Can it Affect Me?

False imprisonment is a limited area of personal injury law that is rarely discussed. However, it can happen to anyone and can have serious consequences. False imprisonment laws address situations when somebody is being restrained, in a confined boundary, by an individual without legal authority to do so. One of the most often cited false imprisonment examples is when a bank robber enters into a bank, with a gun, and tells the customers to lie on the ground and not to leave. The customers would be unlawfully held against their will as it would be reasonable to believe that they would be shot if they attempted to leave the bank.

Typically, there are three main elements or factors that need to be proven in order to have a false imprisonment claim against someone. The first false imprisonment element is that there must be an intentional detention. Second, this intentional detention must be without consent by the aggrieved party. Last, this intentional detention must be unlawful. Additionally, this individual must reasonably believe they are being confined; which means, a normal person, under the same circumstances, would believe they were being confined.

False Imprisonment Examples

Some other examples of false imprisonment include: being medicated against your will; grabbing and holding onto an individual and not allowing them to move or get free; locking an individual in a room without that individual’s consent to be locked in; and a security guard at a store holding onto an individual for an unreasonable amount of time because the security guard believes a crime was committed. On the other hand, here are some examples that do not constitute false imprisonment: an individual grabbing onto another individual but in a way that the other person can very easily escape their grip; someone locking another in a room, but there is another door or window that would provide an easy way out of the situation; a security guard at a store detaining an individual for a reasonable amount of time to question them about a crime that was believed to be committed.

If you believe you’re the victim of false imprisonment in Florida and want a qualified attorney to review your case, contact us for a free consultation.