134 Minn. 58 | Minn. | 1916
Action for false imprisonment. Verdict for the plaintiff. Defendant appeals from the order denying its alternative motion for judgment or' for a new trial.
This action is for false imprisonemnt. There was no criminal complaint filed against the plaintiff. He was taken into custody without a warrant. He was not prosecuted criminally. This is not an action for .malicious prosecution or for the any prosecution, for there was none. The question of probable cause, in its usual sense, is not involved in the action for false imprisonment. Robie v. Canadian Northern Ry. Co. 101 Minn. 534, 111 N. W. 1134. The arrest was unlawful. It may be conceded that in Louisiana, as here and elsewhere, an officer may arrest for a felony without a complaint or warrant. See G. S. 1913, § 9066 (R. L. 1905, § 5229). This does not change the situation. As a matter of law there was no probable cause for a criminal prosecution. The defendant did not justify the arrest at the trial. There being no cause for the arrest, it was unlawful and the imprisonment which followed was unlawful. 1 Cooley, Torts (3d ed.) 296; 1 Jaggard, Torts, 417; Nixon v. Reeves, 65 Minn. 159, 67 N. W. 989, 33 L.R.A. 506. The court so charged the jury. We think this was correct. No objection was made. In the conduct of the trial it seems to have been recognized that the arrest was unlawful.
The court submitted to the jury the question whether the defendant was responsible for the imprisonment of the plaintiff. The evidence was sufficient to sustain an affirmative finding. The court instructed the jury that, though the defendant was not originally responsible for the arrest, still, if knowing that the arrest had been made in connection with the arrest of Tabor, Captain Dodge at the interview the next morning instructed the sheriff to detain him for further examination, and pursuant to his direction he was detained, that made the defendant liable. The instruction was correct. The facts recited constituted an adoption or ratification of the acts of the officers. Callahan v. Searles, 78 Hun, 238, 28 N. Y. Supp. 904. It may be noted that the activity of the defendant after the arrest in taking advantage of it and continuing the imprisonment had a tendency to show a prior authorization. Shattuck v. Bill, 142 Mass. 56, 7 N. E. 39. And of course all participating in the false imprisonment are liable as tort feasors just as those engaged in any tort. 1 Cooley, Torts (3d od.) 319; 1 Jaggard, Torts, 421-423; 19 Cyc. 326.
Order affirmed.