Also known as: kidnap · kidnaps · kidnapped · kidnaping
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A criminal offense consisting of the unlawful removal of another from a place of residence or business or a substantial distance from the vicinity where found, or the unlawful confinement of another for a substantial period in a place of isolation, when done for ransom, to facilitate a felony, to inflict injury or terror, or to interfere with a governmental function.
Margaret and Felicity abduct Gilbert from a parking lot, bind him, and leave him overnight in an unheated van during winter. Gilbert dies of hypothermia. Because the homicide occurred during the kidnapping, the statute presumes the required recklessness and extreme indifference, elevating the charge to murder.
Rita directs Silas into a locked vehicle that crosses from State A into State B and then confines him for three days at a remote camp. The movement occurs entirely within one country, so the conduct fails to satisfy the international transportation element required at common law.
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Grant blocks Mia in a conference room, brandishes a box cutter, and threatens that no one will leave alive. Mia strikes him with a mug. The imminent threat of kidnapping supplies the justification for deadly force because Mia reasonably believes it necessary to avoid the harm.
Noel orders Justin to drive Megan across a state line against her protests and confines her at a secure complex while demanding a ransom payment. The substantial distance, isolation, and ransom purpose satisfy the elements of the offense.
Samuel sedates Heather and transports her across an international border to a guarded laboratory. He compels submission by threatening to inflict kidnapping-level harm if she resists. The threat of kidnapping supplies the force element that elevates the sexual offense to rape.
A defendant convicted of kidnapping receives a life sentence without parole after prior nonviolent felonies. The reviewing court examines whether the punishment is grossly disproportionate to the offense under the Eighth Amendment, comparing the gravity of kidnapping to sentences imposed for more serious crimes in the same jurisdiction.
Kidnapping requires either substantial asportation or prolonged confinement in isolation plus one of four enumerated purposes such as ransom or interference with government functions. False imprisonment requires only knowing unlawful restraint that substantially interferes with liberty and lacks those additional purpose or isolation elements.
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A homicide committed during kidnapping is presumed to be murder because the statute treats the underlying felony as establishing the required recklessness under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to human life.
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Yes. The common law offense is limited to forcible abduction and transportation from one country into another country. Movement between states within the same country does not satisfy the definition.
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Yes. Under the Model Penal Code, compelling submission by threat of imminent kidnapping constitutes rape even without actual physical injury, because the threatened harm is treated as equivalent to threats of death or serious bodily injury.
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…and the officers testified to the prior oral confession made by Miranda during the interrogation. Miranda was found guilty of kidnapping and rape. He was sentenced to 20 to 30 years' imprisonment on each count, the sentences to run concurrently. On appeal, the Supreme Court of Arizona held that Miranda's constitutional…