Kidnapping

Kidnapping Charges Defense Lawyer in Los Angeles and Orange County

Kidnapping is a very serious crime and is a strike under California’s “three strikes” law. Anyone who unlawfully takes a person from one place to another by using force or other fear instilling means against their will is guilty of kidnapping.

If you have a prior criminal record, you could be facing an enhanced prison sentence if you are convicted of kidnapping and face imprisonment for up to 25 years to life. Even if you are facing kidnapping charges and you have no prior record, you have to be aware that the state considers kidnapping a serious felony and you cannot expect leniency.

Kidnapping in general – California Penal Code Section 207-states in pertinent part- Every person who forcibly or by any other means of instilling fear, steals or takes or hold, detains or arrests any person in one county and takes them to another county or state or country.

Simple Kidnapping is punishable in state prison for up to 3, 5 or 8 years. Kidnapping of minors under the age of 14 is punishable by up to 11 years in state prison.

Aggravated Kidnapping – California Penal Code Section 209 –states- Any person who seizes, confines, inveigles, entices, decoys, abducts, conceals, kidnaps or carries away another person by any means whatsoever with intent to hold or detain, or who holds or detains, that person for ransom, reward or to commit extortion or to exact from another person any money or valuable thing, or any person who aids or abets any such act, is guilty of a felony, and upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for life without possibility of parole in cases in which any person subjected to any such act suffers death or bodily harm, or is intentionally confined in a manner which exposes that person to a substantial likelihood of death, or shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for life with the possibility of parole in cases where no such person suffers death or bodily harm.

California Penal Code Section 278 states – Every person, not having a right to custody, who maliciously takes, entices away, keeps, withholds, or conceals any child with the intent to detain or conceal that child from a lawful custodian shall be punished by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year, a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000), or both that fine and imprisonment, or by imprisonment in the state prison for two, three, or four years, a fine not exceeding ten thousand dollars ($10,000), or both that fine and imprisonment.

California Penal Code Section 278.5 essentially makes the same punishments outlined above in P.C. 278 applicable to anyone who deprives a person of his/her right to visitation.

Many people might not be aware of the fact that you can be charged with kidnapping if the person you allegedly forcibly took was your own child or family member. You can absolutely be charged and convicted with kidnapping even if you did not consider the incident to be an act of illegal kidnapping. Most kidnapping charges in the U.S. involve domestic/familial relationships.

Contact your local Los Angeles or Orange County Kidnapping Lawyer to discuss your charges.

If you are facing any type of kidnapping charges in California, you are in serious trouble, contact an attorney to discuss your options immediately.