§707-721 Unlawful imprisonment in the first degree. (1) A person commits the offense of unlawful imprisonment in the first degree if the person knowingly restrains another person under circumstances which expose the person to the risk of serious bodily injury.

(2) Unlawful imprisonment in the first degree is a class C felony. [L 1972, c 9, pt of §1; ree L 1986, c 314, §54; gen ch 1993; am L 2008, c 147, §3]

Case Notes

Defendant's prior conviction of unlawful imprisonment in the first degree, which was based on defendant's knowing restraint of victim in circumstances that exposed victim to the risk of serious bodily injury, qualified as a "crime of violence" under the residual clause of the career offender guideline, U.S.S.G. §4B1.1, and thus supported the application of an enhanced sentence for violent crime in aid of racketeering. 883 F.3d 1207 (2018).

Double jeopardy clause of Hawaii constitution barred unlawful imprisonment prosecution of defendant who had been found guilty of abuse under §709-906. 75 H. 446, 865 P.2d 150 (1994).

There was a rational basis for the jury to find defendant guilty of unlawful imprisonment in the first degree, had the jury been given the appropriate instruction. The failure to instruct the jury on a lesser included offense for which the evidence provided a rational basis warranted vacating defendant's conviction for kidnapping. 131 H. 43, 314 P.3d 120 (2013).

Under §701-109(4)(c), unlawful imprisonment in the first degree is a lesser-included offense of kidnapping because unlawful imprisonment in the first degree involves a less culpable mental state than kidnapping. 131 H. 43, 314 P.3d 120 (2013).