Dillon v. Haskell

SHINN, Acting P. J.

Plaintiff brought this action for damages for false imprisonment. Following allegations in his first amended complaint that plaintiff has long been a tenant of defendant in a two-story building in which both resided, the complaint read as follows: “II. Defendant claims that on January 30, 1946, someone, without permission and with felonious intent, broke into her apartment aforesaid and stole considerable property," especially jewelry, belonging to defendant. About 9:15 P. M. or 9:30 P. M. on Saturday, the 9th day of February, 1946, as plaintiff returned to his home at 4316 Woodman Ave., Van Nuys, California, from his employment in Alhambra, California, plaintiff, at the instigation and procurement of defendant, was arrested by two police officers on the charge of having committed said burglary, and, at defendant’s instigation and procurement, said police officers forcibly, and against plaintiff’s will, took him to the police station in Van Nuys where he was grilled by them for two or three hours, and then locked up in a jail cell with drunks, criminals, and other disreputable characters, and confined therein, against his will, until noon the next day, upon said charge, and then released.” It was then alleged that plaintiff had never entered defendant’s premises with felonious intent nor taken any of her property nor committed against defendant the crime of burglary or larceny or any other criminal offense. This complaint was demurred to generally, and upon the ground that it was uncertain, in that it failed to allege facts showing that plaintiff’s arrest was “at the instigation and procurement of defendant.” The demurrer was sustained, leave to amend was granted, which was not availed of, and judgment of dismissal was entered.

[816]

Respondent’s sole argument in support of the judgment is that the allegation that plaintiff was arrested “at the instigation and procurement of defendant” stated a mere conclusion, and was not the equivalent of a charge that defendant instigated and procured the arrest. The point it without merit. Defendant could not have failed to understand that she was charged with having caused the arrest. It is required by section" 426 of the Code of Civil Procedure that the complaint state facts constituting the cause of action in ordinary and concise language. It is not to be tested for literary excellence.

The judgment should be affirmed if it appears that the complaint failed to state a cause of action, even though the defect is one not discussed in the briefs on appeal. The complaint was defective, and subject to general demurrer. False imprisonment as a penal offense is the unlawful violation of the personal liberty of another. (Pen. Code, § 236.) Whether the offense is treated as a tort or as a crime, the definition is the same.