3/31/16 In Arizona, the misdemeanor charge of Unlawful Imprisonment is knowingly restraining another person where the victim is released voluntarily by the defendant without physical injury in a safe place before arrest.
In a recent case from the Pima County Justice Court, a defendant so charged sought to have a jury trial. In Arizona a misdemeanor offense is only jury eligible if based on common law it was a jury eligible offense in Arizona prior to the time Arizona became a state in 1912. The defense argued this was true for the offense of misdemeanor Unlawful Imprisonment. The Justice and Superior Courts denied his request for a jury trial, however, on appeal the Court of Appeals held it was a common law jury eligible offense in the Arizona Territorial days and therefore the offense remains jury eligible today.
To read the court’s decision in Kaniowsky v. Pima County Consol. Justice Courts, 2-CA-CV-2015-0157:
http://www.apltwo.ct.state.az.us/Decisions/CV20150157Opinion.pdf
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