# OJ - Why Kidnapping and not False Imprisonment? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 6, 2008, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oj-why-kidnapping-and-not-false-imprisonment/476003 "2008-12-06T15:46:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2008, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oj-why-kidnapping-and-not-false-imprisonment/476003/1 "2008-12-06T15:46:08Z")
OJ was just sentenced for, among other things kidnapping. It seems to me that what he actually did was commit _false imprisonment_. Why one and not the other? ---
**Author:** ![hawthorne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@hawthorne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hawthorne)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2008, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oj-why-kidnapping-and-not-false-imprisonment/476003/2 "2008-12-06T15:48:54Z")
Isn’t that a tort? ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2008, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oj-why-kidnapping-and-not-false-imprisonment/476003/3 "2008-12-06T15:51:16Z")
> [@hawthorne](#): > > Isn’t that a tort? I dunno, IANAL or in law enforcement. Can you elaborate? ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2008, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oj-why-kidnapping-and-not-false-imprisonment/476003/4 "2008-12-06T16:01:49Z")
False imprisonment is indeed a tort in most jurisdictions, meaning it’s a civil offense that you can sue someone for, rather than a crime. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2008, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oj-why-kidnapping-and-not-false-imprisonment/476003/5 "2008-12-06T16:11:35Z")
OK, my wife brought this up last night: She had an old boyfriend that would prevent her from leaving when they were having an argument. So, she could have called 911 and reported that she was _kidnapped_!? ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2008, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oj-why-kidnapping-and-not-false-imprisonment/476003/6 "2008-12-06T16:15:45Z")
Interesting question - I hope that a legal expert chimes in here. With a cursory search on wikipedia, it seems that the common law definition of kidnapping includes ‘taking and carrying’ the victim. So, is unlawfully imprisoning someone in a place that they came to of their own free will, (like holding them hostage in their own house) a criminal offsense, and if so, what would the charge be? ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2008, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oj-why-kidnapping-and-not-false-imprisonment/476003/7 "2008-12-06T16:22:30Z")
Well, it’s not like the 911 operator would say “false imprisonment is a civil matter, please call back when you’ve looked up the appropriate criminal statute.” If someone calls the cops and says they are being held against their will, regardless of terminology, they will send somebody out. The secondary question seems to be “is it kidnapping if you don’t actually _move_ the person?” In common law, taking the person away is a necessary element of the crime. But states can override common law definitions by enacting statutes which define crimes in more explicit terms. [Here](http://www.leg.state.nv.us/Nrs/NRS-200.html#NRS200Sec310) is part of Nevada’s kidnapping statute: > [@Nevada Revised Statutes](#): > > 1. A person who willfully seizes, confines, inveigles, entices, decoys, abducts, conceals, kidnaps or carries away a person by any means whatsoever with the intent to hold or detain, **or who holds or detains, the person for ransom, or reward, or for the purpose of committing sexual assault, extortion or robbery upon or from the person** , or for the purpose of killing the person or inflicting substantial bodily harm upon him, or to exact from relatives, friends, or any other person any money or valuable thing for the return or disposition of the kidnapped person, and a person who leads, takes, entices, or carries away or detains any minor with the intent to keep, imprison, or confine him from his parents, guardians, or any other person having lawful custody of the minor, or with the intent to hold the minor to unlawful service, or perpetrate upon the person of the minor any unlawful act is guilty of kidnapping in the first degree which is a category A felony. So in Nevada, taking the person away is not necessarily a require element of the crime, and in particular is not a required element if robbery was involved, as was the case in OJ’s crime. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2008, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oj-why-kidnapping-and-not-false-imprisonment/476003/8 "2008-12-06T16:31:34Z")
People who take people hostage during the robbery are charged with kidnapping. Had the 9/11 hijackers survived, I’m sure kidnapping would have been added to the long list of charges. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2008, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oj-why-kidnapping-and-not-false-imprisonment/476003/9 "2008-12-06T16:36:42Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > Well, it’s not like the 911 operator would say “false imprisonment is a civil matter, please call back when you’ve looked up the appropriate criminal statute.” I **SO** want to see this in a movie!😃 ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2008, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oj-why-kidnapping-and-not-false-imprisonment/476003/10 "2008-12-06T16:57:07Z")
Nevada recognizes both false imprisonment and kidnapping as crimes. Kidnapping is a felony; false imprisonment is a misdemeanor under most circumstances. False imprisonment is probably a lesser included offense. Both require deprivation of liberty (not necessarily taking away–asportation or detention is sufficient) but kidnapping requires the detention be for “ransom, or reward, or for the purpose of committing sexual assault, extortion or robbery upon or from the person, or for the purpose of killing the person or inflicting substantial bodily harm upon him, or to exact from relatives, friends, or any other person any money or valuable thing for the return or disposition of the kidnapped person.” > [@](#): > > NRS 200.460 Definition; penalties. > > ``` > 1. False imprisonment is an unlawful violation of the personal liberty of another, and consists in confinement or detention without sufficient legal authority. > > 2. A person convicted of false imprisonment shall pay all damages sustained by the person so imprisoned, and, except as otherwise provided in this section, is guilty of a gross misdemeanor. > > 3. Unless a greater penalty is provided pursuant to subsection 4, if the false imprisonment is committed: > > (a) By a prisoner in a penal institution without a deadly weapon; or > > (b) By any other person with the use of a deadly weapon, > > ``` > > Ê the person convicted of such a false imprisonment is guilty of a category B felony and shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for a minimum term of not less than 1 year and a maximum term of not more than 6 years. > > ``` > 4. Unless a greater penalty is provided pursuant to subsection 5, if the false imprisonment is committed by using the person so imprisoned as a shield or to avoid arrest, the person convicted of such a false imprisonment is guilty of a category B felony and shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for a minimum term of not less than 1 year and a maximum term of not more than 15 years. > > 5. If the false imprisonment is committed by a prisoner who is in lawful custody or confinement with the use of a deadly weapon, the person convicted of such a false imprisonment is guilty of a category B felony and shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for a minimum term of not less than 1 year and a maximum term of not more than 20 years. > > [1911 C&P § 175; RL § 6440; NCL § 10122]—(NRS A 1967, 472; 1981, 614; 1995, 1190; 2003, 387) > > ``` [http://search.leg.state.nv.us/isysquery/irlc8fa/4/doc](http://search.leg.state.nv.us/isysquery/irlc8fa/4/doc) > [@](#): > > NRS 200.310 Degrees. > > ``` > 1. A person who willfully seizes, confines, inveigles, entices, decoys, abducts, conceals, kidnaps or carries away a person by any means whatsoever with the intent to hold or detain, or who holds or detains, the person for ransom, or reward, or for the purpose of committing sexual assault, extortion or robbery upon or from the person, or for the purpose of killing the person or inflicting substantial bodily harm upon him, or to exact from relatives, friends, or any other person any money or valuable thing for the return or disposition of the kidnapped person, and a person who leads, takes, entices, or carries away or detains any minor with the intent to keep, imprison, or confine him from his parents, guardians, or any other person having lawful custody of the minor, or with the intent to hold the minor to unlawful service, or perpetrate upon the person of the minor any unlawful act is guilty of kidnapping in the first degree which is a category A felony. > > 2. A person who willfully and without authority of law seizes, inveigles, takes, carries away or kidnaps another person with the intent to keep the person secretly imprisoned within the State, or for the purpose of conveying the person out of the State without authority of law, or in any manner held to service or detained against his will, is guilty of kidnapping in the second degree which is a category B felony. > > [1:165:1947; 1943 NCL § 10612.05]—(NRS A 1959, 20; 1979, 39; 1987, 495; 1995, 1184) > > ``` ---
**Author:** ![Campion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@Campion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Campion)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2008, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oj-why-kidnapping-and-not-false-imprisonment/476003/11 "2008-12-06T17:05:16Z")
Why charge Simpson with [kidnapping](http://www.leg.state.nv.us/Nrs/NRS-200.html#NRS200Sec310) instead of [false imprisonment](http://www.leg.state.nv.us/Nrs/NRS-200.html#NRS200Sec460)? False imprisonment committed without a weapon is a misdemeanor, while kidnapping is a felony. So my guess is that the state went for the more serious charge, particularly because as I understand it, Simpson himself didn’t have a weapon but instead relied on his compatriots to come armed. I don’t know if you can flip a false imprisonment charge to a felony for carrying a gun if the defendant didn’t himself have a gun but instead ordered his friends to come armed. But charging kidnapping avoids having to address that issue, and given the strong overlap between the elements, it’s a good choice. (Interesting side note: turns out dueling is still illegal in Nevada, and it’s also a [misdemeanor](http://www.leg.state.nv.us/Nrs/NRS-200.html#NRS200Sec440) to mock someone who refuses to duel. Who knew?)