Jonson v. Heller

• Decision Date: 20 November 1942
• Docket Number: 31460.
• Citation: 6 N.W.2d 359,142 Neb. 380
• Parties: JONSON v. HELLER et al.
• Court: Nebraska Supreme Court

6 N.W.2d 359

142 Neb. 380

JONSON v. HELLER et al.

No. 31460.

Supreme Court of Nebraska

November 20, 1942

Syllabus by the Court.

1. To sustain an action for damages for false imprisonment there must be direct evidence, or evidence from which a reasonable inference may be drawn, that the plaintiff was unlawfully restrained of his personal liberty or freedom of locomotion without his consent and against his will, with or without process of law.

2. Evidence examined, and found that it fails to sustain the charge of false imprisonment against the defendants.

Harold A. Prince and Cleary, Suhr & Davis, all of Grand Island for appellants.

B J. Cunningham, of Grand Island, for appellee.

Heard before SIMMONS, C. J., and ROSE, EBERLY, PAINE, CARTER, MESSMORE and YEAGER, JJ.

YEAGER Justice.

This is an action by Evans A. Jonson, plaintiff and appellee, against Samuel G. Heller and S. N. Wolbach Sons, Inc., a corporation defendants and appellants, for damages for false imprisonment. The case was tried to a jury which resulted in verdict and judgment in favor of the plaintiff and against the defendants for $1,000. From this judgment the defendants have appealed.

The appellants, as grounds for reversal of the judgment, have in their brief assigned five errors.

The first error assigned is that the court erred in overruling the motion of the defendants at the close of the evidence to instruct the jury to return a verdict in favor of the defendants. From an examination of the record it appears that this assignment is of first importance and it will be so treated.

The petition upon which the case was tried substantially alleges, and the theory upon which the case was tried was, that the plaintiff on November 19, 1939, was an employee of the defendant corporation, and that the defendant Samuel G. Heller was in charge of and was managing the business of the defendant corporation; and that in his personal capacity, and as manager of the defendant corporation, Heller caused and brought about the false imprisonment of the plaintiff.

The defendants filed answers. Both defendants in their answers generally denied the allegations of the petition. The answer of the defendant S. N. Wolbach Sons Inc., contained other defensive allegations, the particulars of which are not required for the present phase of this discussion.

The parties to this action are in accord on the definition of false imprisonment, that is, that false imprisonment consists of the unlawful restraint of the personal liberty or freedom of locomotion of a person without the consent and against the will of such person, with or without process of law. Johnson v. Bouton, 35 Neb. 898, 53 N.W. 995; Dillon v. Sears-Roebuck Co., 126 Neb. 357, 253 N.W. 331; Doescher v. Robinson, 132 Neb. 299, 271 N.W. 784.

It follows then that one who charges that he has been falsely imprisoned must show by evidence that he was falsely imprisoned by the person or persons charged, or...