When you hire a personal injury attorney to bring a false imprisonment suit against another party — given that false imprisonment belongs to the intentional tort section of personal injury law — one of the big questions that you'll need to answer is whether you were allowed to leave the premises. If the incident took place in a store, and you were falsely detained under the assumption that you'd shoplifted something, your inability to leave the store may mean that the staff falsely imprisoned you. You'll need to attest that you didn't respond affirmatively to these statements in order for your case to be strong.
"Please Do Not Leave The Store"
It's common for a store employee or a loss prevention officer to ask you to remain in the store. If someone made this request of you, and you responded affirmatively — perhaps saying something such as, "Sure, I'll stay here because I have nothing to hide" — it will be difficult for your personal injury attorney to suggest later on that you were a victim of false imprisonment. This is because, in a sense, you made a decision to remain on the property rather than leave.
"Please Come Into This Office"
Often, loss prevention officers will attempt to get suspects into the store's loss prevention office for several reasons. For starters, they want this person out of the main area of the store so as not to cause a scene, but being in this private space also allows them to question the suspected shoplifter and even search his or her person. This is another request to which an affirmative response may jeopardize your ability to claim false imprisonment. The defendant would simply argue that he or she gave you a choice to enter the office, and that you did so willingly.
"Please Sit Here And Don't Get Up"
A loss prevention officer or store employee may further seek to get your consent to detain you by requesting that you sit in a chair and remain there throughout an investigation and/or until the police arrive. It's your prerogative as to whether you wish to sit down or not. If you vehemently deny the person's request to sit, you'll have a stronger false imprisonment case than if you were to agree. Each of these elements may be critical in arguing the intentional tort of false imprisonment, which can bode well for your personal injury case.
If you wish to learn more about how to proceed with your false imprisonment case, call a personal injury attorney today.
Share22 April 2019
I have never been someone who likes the idea of suing another person, but after my family was plowed into by a drunk driver with no regard for the law, my tune changed. I realized that I needed to do what I could in order to make things right, so I started looking for a lawyer who could help me to fight for the settlement I deserved. It took a few months in court, but by the time I won my settlement, I felt a lot better about things. This blog is all about getting the legal help you need when you need it the most.