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No one wants to end up behind bars, but putting other people at risk to avoid being arrested is likely to result in your facing further charges, whether you lead the police in a high-speed chase or resort to taking a human shield. If you have been accused of the false imprisonment of a hostage to avoid arrest, you will be charged under California Penal Code section 210.5 (PC), a serious felony offense. Anyone accused of this crime should immediately contact a criminal defense attorney.
California Law on Taking a Hostage
Under Penal Code 210.5 (PC), false imprisonment (defined under Penal Code section 236 (PC)) performed for the purpose of protecting someone from being arrested or to use the person as a shield is a felony. These charges can be applied whether you take a hostage on a high-speed chase, threaten to hurt someone in order to avoid arrest, or use someone as a human shield to avoid getting shot by the police.
Potential Penalties for Taking Hostages
Depending on the specifics of the crime, a person facing charges under 210.5 (PC) will be subject to a three, five, or eight year prison sentence. This offense is considered a violent felony and will always add a strike to your record under the state’s three-strikes law.
However, many people charged with this crime may also face similar charges. If you take a hostage by force or fear and then travel a substantial distance, you may also be charged with kidnapping. Most kidnapping charges are punishable by up to 8 years in prison; however, if the victim is under 14, the offense goes up to 11 years. Kidnapping may occasionally be punishable by life imprisonment if the crime is serious enough to be considered aggravated kidnapping because the victim was injured, ransomed, or taken as part of an attempted robbery, carjacking, sexual assault, or murder.
How you treat the hostage will also impact your sentences and criminal charges. For example, if the victim suffers great bodily harm, you could be subject to an additional 3 to 6 years for 210.5 (PC). You may also be charged with battery if you use force or violence against the victim, which could leave you in prison for another four years if the crime is charged as a felony or up to a year if the offense if filed as a misdemeanor.
Lastly, if the victim died as a result of the crime, you could face murder charges under the state’s felony murder rule, even if you did not intentionally kill them.
Defenses to Penal Code 210.5 (PC)
These offenses are very hard to fight, and in most cases, the best move is a plea bargain to minimize the charges and penalties a defendant might face. For example, if you have been charged with false imprisonment of a hostage under 210.5 (PC) and kidnapping, your attorney may be able to have you charged with only one of the two offenses.
It is sometimes possible to fight these charges, but the right defense will always vary based on your unique circumstances. For example, if the alleged hostage consented to the situation, they were not subject to false arrest. Alternatively, this charge only applies if the person who took the hostage was trying to avoid arrest, so if there was no actual threat of arrest, these charges do not apply —although they could still be subject to other false imprisonment or kidnapping charges. Similarly, it is sometimes possible to argue that you have been the victim of mistaken identity and you have an alibi regarding your whereabouts for the time the crime took place.
Always discuss your case with your attorney before speaking to the police so you can determine the correct approach to the charges before you risk saying something that might hurt your case.
If you have been accused of any violent crime, including false imprisonment of a hostage, please call (760) 643-4050 or (858) 486-3024 to schedule a free initial consultation with lawyer Peter M. Liss.
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