3.26Unlawful Imprisonment
A person is guilty of unlawful imprisonment if he or she knowingly restrains another person under any of the following circumstances:
•the person was restrained through the use of a weapon or dangerous instrument.
•the person restrained was secretly confined.
•the person was restrained in order to facilitate the commission of another felony or to facilitate flight after commission of another felony. MCL 750.349b(1)(a)-(c).
The crime of unlawful imprisonment is a felony punishable by not more than 15 years of imprisonment, or a fine of not more than $20,000, or both. MCL 750.349b(2).
A defendant may be charged with, convicted of, or sentenced for any other violation of law committed during the defendant’s commission of unlawful imprisonment. MCL 750.349b(4).
The court must order a defendant convicted of unlawful imprisonment to pay a crime victim assessment of $130. See MCL 780.905(1)(a).
3.Minimum State Cost and Other Costs
If the court orders payment of any combination of a fine, costs, or applicable assessments, the court must impose the minimum state cost of not less than $68. See MCL 769.1j(1)(a); MCL 769.1k(1)(a).
The Sex Offenders Registration Act (SORA) designates MCL 750.349b as a tier I offense if the victim is a minor, MCL 28.722(r)(iii), and requires registration if the defendant meets the domicile, residence, employment, or student status, MCL 28.723.
Unlawful imprisonment of a minor, MCL 750.349b, “is one of only three offenses for which a conviction does not necessarily require commission of a sexual act that results in placement on the sex-offender registry.” People v Lymon (Lymon II), ___ Mich ___, ___(2024) (affirming the judgment of the Court of Appeals in People v Lymon (Lymon I), 342 Mich App 46 (2022), only as to non-sexual offenders who were placed on the sex-offender registry, and vacating the opinion as to conclusions that went beyond consideration of non-sexual offenders). “[T]he imposition of the 2021 SORA on non-sexual offenders . . . constitutes cruel or unusual punishment under the Michigan Constitution.” Lymon II, ___ Mich at ___. “[O]ffenders whose crimes lacked a sexual component are entitled to removal from the sex-offender registry.” Id. at ___.
For more information on the SORA’s registration requirements, see Chapter 9.
1.SORA Registration for Crime Without Sexual Component
Registration under SORA may be required even when there is “no express sexual component” to the crime.” People v Fonville, 291 Mich App 363, 380 (2011).
2.“Restraint”
“[T]he knowing restraint element of unlawful imprisonment does not require evidence of physical force. Nonphysical force that involves a credible threat of harm can constitute restraint when it “‘forcibly restrict[s] a person’s movements’” or “‘forcibly confine[s] the person so as to interfere with that person’s liberty without that person’s consent or without lawful authority.’” People v Jarrell, 344 Mich App 464, 488 (2022), quoting MCL 750.349b(3)(a) (alterations in original).
MCL 750.349b “does not define the word ‘confine,’” and “[n]othing in [MCL 750.349b] requires a certain level of difficulty of discovery or escape.” People v Kosik, 303 Mich App 146, 152, 153 (2013). Rather, “[o]ur Supreme Court has stated that ‘secret confinement’ means the ‘deprivation of the assistance of others by virtue of the victim’s inability to communicate his predicament.’” Id. at 152, quoting People v Jaffray, 445 Mich 287, 309 (1994).
“The determination whether a person has been secretly confined is generally not dependent on the duration of the confinement.” Kosik, 303 Mich App at 153. “Whether and when defendant [chooses] to release the victim is immaterial to whether there was secret confinement.” Id.
4.Sufficient Evidence to Support Conviction
Sufficient evidence existed to support the defendant’s conviction of unlawful imprisonment under MCL 750.349b(1) where the victim was restrained without physical force in a variety of ways, including: the defendant displayed to the victim a pocket knife he carried at all times; there were at least 50 knives throughout he house where the defendant rented a room and much of the activity in the case occurred; the homeowner’s knife collection included machetes, long knives, and pocket knives; the defendant told the victim that she was being watched by cameras and could go viral at any time; the victim was made to believe she owed the defendant a debt; the defendant obtained the victim’s identification card from the victim’s purse and read off the victim’s mother’s address; the defendant said “‘it would be a shame if something happened to [the victim’s daughter]”; and the defendant threatened the victim with a hot fire poker. People v Jarrell, 344 Mich App 464, 471 (2022).
Sufficient evidence existed to support the defendant’s conviction of unlawful imprisonment under MCL 750.349b(1)(b) (secret confinement) where the defendant entered the store after the victim’s coworker went on her break and the store was empty, he forcefully grabbed the victim and led her to a windowless conference room where she could not be seen, he closed the door and stood in front of it to prevent her from escaping, and he took the victim’s phone away from her so she could not call for help. People v Kosik, 303 Mich App 146, 153-154 (2013).
Sufficient evidence existed to support the defendant’s conviction of unlawful imprisonment under MCL 750.349b(1)(b) (secret confinement) where the defendant dragged the victim by her hair and forced her into her car, punched her in the mouth and choked her until she lost consciousness, drove her to a store and took her car keys and phone when he went into the store, and demanded that the victim not reveal their location to her sister after he answered the sister’s call on the victim’s phone. People v Railer, 288 Mich App 213, 215-219 (2010).