Kidnapping

A person commits the crime of kidnapping if he or she knowingly restrains another person with the intent to do 1 or more of the following:

1. Hold that person for ransom or reward
2. Use that person as a shield or hostage
3. Engage in criminal sexual penetration or criminal sexual contact
4. Take that person outside of this state
5. Hold that person in involuntary servitude
6. Engage in child sexually abusive activity

Kidnapping is a felony, and falls under MCL 750.349.

DEFINITION
KIDNAPPING

• Restrain – to restrict a person’s movements or to confine the person so as to interfere with that person’s liberty without that person’s consent or without legal authority. The restraint does not have to exist for any particular length of time and may be related or incidental to the commission of other criminal acts.

BLANK LAW, PC EXAMPLE
KIDNAPPING

A person can be convicted of kidnapping if it is proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the person wilfully, maliciously, and without lawful authority, forcibly or secretly confined or imprisoned any other person within this state against his will, or forcibly carried or sent a person out of this state, or forcibly seized or confined, or inveigled or kidnapped any other person with intent to extort money or other valuable thing thereby or with intent to either cause the person to be secretly confined or imprisoned in this state against his will, or to cause the person to be in any way held to service against his will.

A conviction of kidnapping may not be sustained where movement of the victim was merely incidental to the commission of another, lesser crime; movement sufficient to satisfy the asportation requirement for kidnapping must be incidental to the commission of the kidnapping, irrespective of whether an underlying lesser offense or a coequal offense is involved.

Secret confinement is an alternative to the asportation element of kidnapping, but either must be accomplished by force, that is, by physical coercion amounting to more than mere mental coercion. Where appropriate, secret confinement or some other nonmovement factor may supply a necessary alternative to asportation to complete statutory kidnapping

Movement element of asportation sufficient to sustain kidnapping must not be merely incidental to commission of a lesser underlying crime; it must be incidental to commission of the kidnapping.

The asportation necessary to establish kidnapping is sufficiently proven where a victim has been subjected to continued confinement long after the completion of an underlying offense and the confinement clearly increased the risk of harm to the victim beyond that incident to the underlying offense.

Evidence that defendant forced the victim into a vehicle at gunpoint, drove for at least thirty minutes, removed the victim from the car, assaulted him, put him back in the car, and drove for another thirty minutes, crossing at least one county line before releasing him, was sufficient to prove the movement of the victim was not merely incidental to the underlying crime of criminal sexual conduct and satisfied the asportation element of kidnapping.

PENALTY
KIDNAPPING

A person who commits the crime of kidnapping is guilty of a felony punishable by imprisonment for life or any term of years or a fine of not more than $50,000.00, or both.

DEFENSES
KIDNAPPING

• The accuser consented to being moved or to accompanying the accused
• Insanity or mental disease
• Lack of knowledge or mistake
• The accused is a relative of the accuser
• Lack of intent to use deadly force.