Kidnapping Defense in CaliforniaCalifornia Penal Code § 207

Explained:

A defendant has to move someone else “by force or fear” in order to be guilty of kidnapping under California law. PC 207 says that the defendant must “take, hold, steal, detain, or arrest” and “carry” that person in order to be considered a kidnapper. However, defendant does not have to physically touch the victim in order to “move” them for the purposes of the kidnapping statute. Rather, the defendant need only cause another person to move.

Furthermore, the defendant has to use force or fear to cause the victim’s movement. For example, a defendant who points a gun at his victim, tells the victim that it is loaded, and commands the victim to walk forward with his hands up might be guilty of kidnapping even if he never touches or grabs the victim, so long as he makes the victim walk a “substantial” distance; threatening the victim with a firearm would probably be considered a type of “force or fear” used to make the victim move.

A distance is “substantial” under the kidnapping statute if it is “more than slight or trivial.” For some people, the word “kidnapping” or “kidnapper” conjures up stories of abductions where people are taken out of town and held somewhere against their will. However, a defendant need not move his victim over such great distances in order to be considered a “kidnapper” under California law. In fact, PC 207 even states that causing someone to move within the same county can be considered “kidnapping”, so long as it is done without the victim’s consent, the defendant uses force or fear, and the movement is far enough to be considered “more than slight or trivial.” A defendant who forcefully pulls someone up close probably is not a “kidnapper”, but he might become one if he continues to hold and drag someone against their will, over a greater distance.

The defendant also has to move the victim without their consent. If the alleged victim agreed in advance to the defendant forcefully moving him, then there is no kidnapping. However, if the victim only “agreed” to be moved along after the defendant already started to force him, then there probably is no consent. On the issue of consent, kidnapping is often considered a “general intent” crime. The prosecution does not have to show that the defendant intended to override the victim’s power to consent. Rather, the prosecution only has to prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the defendant knew or should have known that the victim would not consent or was not consenting to being forcefully moved.