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Kidnapping & False Imprisonment
Few charges are stacked onto cases more aggressively than kidnapping. Grab an arm during an argument, block a doorway, move someone from the living room to the bedroom during an alleged offense — and prosecutors add a count that carries up to life in prison. The word conjures ransom notes; the courtroom reality is mostly domestic disputes, robberies, and relationship blowups where “confinement” lasted seconds. Florida's appellate courts have pushed back hard on that overcharging, which is exactly where the defense begins.
If you're facing a kidnapping or false imprisonment count in Osceola or Orange County, call or text 407-846-8008 before anyone talks you into a package plea.
The Charges
• Kidnapping — § 787.01. Forcibly, secretly, or by threat confining, abducting, or imprisoning a person against their will, with intent to: hold for ransom or as a hostage; commit or facilitate another felony; inflict harm or terrorize; or interfere with a governmental function. A first-degree felony punishable by up to life.
• Aggravated kidnapping of a child under 13 — kidnapping plus an enumerated offense (aggravated child abuse, sexual battery, lewd offenses, trafficking) — a life felony, with separate sentences allowed for each offense.
• False imprisonment — § 787.02. The same confinement without the specific-intent list — a third-degree felony (up to 5 years), rising to a first-degree felony punishable by life for victims under 13 with enumerated offenses.
The gap between those two charges — five years versus life — frequently comes down to a prosecutor's choice and a defense lawyer's fight.
The Faison Defense: Confinement That Doesn't Count
When kidnapping is charged for confinement “to facilitate a felony,” Florida law requires far more than movement during a crime. Under the Florida Supreme Court's Faison test, the confinement must not be slight, inconsequential, or merely incidental to the other offense; must not be the kind inherent in that offense; and must have independent significance — making the other crime substantially easier or the escape safer. Moving a person room to room during a robbery, briefly restraining someone during a fight, holding an arm during an argument — courts have thrown out kidnapping convictions on exactly these facts, again and again. Winning the Faison argument converts a life-exposure case into something chargeable and survivable, and it is the single most important motion in most kidnapping files.
Domestic Cases: Where These Charges Multiply
A heated argument where one person blocks a door or takes car keys becomes battery plus false imprisonment — or kidnapping, if the State feels aggressive. These add-on counts drive plea leverage and scoresheet points. The defense treats them as what they are: contested versions of a chaotic private moment, with consent, credibility, and the Faison line all in play — and with every defense available in the underlying domestic violence case pulling double duty.
Frequently Asked Questions
We argued, I took her phone and stood in the doorway. How is that false imprisonment?
Because an affidavit said “would not let her leave.” Whether brief restraint against someone's will occurred — and whether it was lawful, consensual, or momentary — is a jury question the State often can't carry.
The kidnapping count came with my robbery charge. Why?
Leverage and points. If the movement was incidental to the robbery, Faison says it isn't kidnapping — and that motion changes the entire negotiation.
It involved my own child — a custody dispute.
Parental cases implicate different statutes and defenses entirely, including custody rights and court orders. Do not plead to anything before counsel maps which law actually applies.
What's realistic here?
Dismissal or reduction of the confinement count is a realistic goal where Faison applies — collapsing life exposure down to the underlying charge, which is then fought on its own merits.
Life Exposure Deserves a Life-Exposure Defense
Chad Seibel is a former prosecutor who knows when a kidnapping count is real and when it's leverage. Call or text 407-846-8008 for a free consultation. Office visits are by appointment only.