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Noguchi v. Nakamura, 2 Haw.App. 655, 638 P.2d 1383

Facts

The plaintiff and defendant had previously been in a relationship, but the plaintiff decided she no longer wanted to date the defendant. On the day of the incident, the defendant asked the plaintiff to go to the store with him, to which she consented on the condition that he would bring her back immediately. After returning to her parents' house, while the plaintiff had the car door open, the defendant suddenly drove off, leading to the plaintiff falling from the car and sustaining injuries.

Basically, appellant testified that she and appellee had been girl friend and boyfriend. She had come to the conclusion that she did not wish to go out with him anymore. On the day in question, he came to see her and asked her to go with him on a date that evening. She refused. After some conversation, he asked her to at least go to the store with him and she consented on the condition, which he agreed to, that he would bring her right back. She then entered his car and they proceeded to the store and returned, stopping in front of her house. She was seated in the car with the car door open when he suddenly drove off.

Issue

Did the plaintiff consent to the defendant's actions, and was there sufficient evidence to support a claim of false imprisonment?

Whether a previous consent is broad enough to cover a particular confinement is a question of fact to be determined by the jury in doubtful cases.

Rule

An actor is liable for false imprisonment if he intends to confine another within fixed boundaries, his act results in such confinement, and the other is conscious of the confinement or harmed by it. Consent to being placed in a limited space negates a claim of false imprisonment, but a moving automobile can constitute a place of confinement.

An actor is subject to liability to another for false imprisonment if he acts intending to confine the other within the boundaries fixed by him, his act results in such confinement and the other is conscious of the confinement or is harmed by it.

Analysis

The court analyzed whether the plaintiff's consent to ride in the car was limited to a trip to the store and back. The court noted that the plaintiff had previously expressed her unwillingness to go out with the defendant and that her having the car door open indicated her lack of consent to any further movement. The court concluded that a jury could reasonably find that the defendant's actions exceeded the scope of the plaintiff's consent.

A jury could well have found from her testimony that her consent to go anywhere with the appellee on the day in question was limited to going to the store and back; that she had previously expressly told him she would not go out with him that evening, so that the limited consent had expired; and that her having the door open in the stopped car in front of her parents' home reindicated her lack of consent to any further movement.

Conclusion

The court reversed the directed verdict and remanded the case for a new trial, indicating that there was sufficient evidence for a jury to consider the false imprisonment claim.

Applying that standard here, there was sufficient evidence to go to the jury on the claim of false imprisonment.

Who won?

The plaintiff prevailed in the appeal as the court found that the directed verdict for the defendant was inappropriate given the evidence presented.

The court found that there was sufficient evidence to go to the jury on the claim of false imprisonment.

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