People v. Apo

In People v. Apo (1972) 25 Cal.App.3d 790, 19 students were convicted of simple kidnapping, false imprisonment, and conspiracy to commit those crimes. (Apo, supra, 25 Cal.App.3d at pp. 792-793.) "The charges in question grew out of a claim by black students at the college that a freshman football coach had, during the course of a game, kicked or otherwise abused a black football player ... ." (Id. at p. 793.) After a heated discussion about the incident with a group of students in a conference room in the physical education building, the victims, two professors and the director of athletics, "were then marched from the physical education building to the administration building, a distance of some 700 yards ... ." (Apo, supra, 25 Cal.App.3d at pp. 793-794.) During the march, the victims were continually jostled or shoved when they tried to delay or stop. "Each of them went unwillingly; each was afraid; from time to time statements to the effect 'Move along whitey or we will stick you' were made. During the forced trek a black student hit a white student on the jaw." (Id. at p. 794.) "The group marched through the first floor of the administration building, outside again and back inside. The professors were then forced to walk to the fifth floor of the administration building where the president and other top officers of the college had their offices. They were kept on the fifth floor for a matter of some hours until the president of the college arrived ... ." (Apo, supra, 25 Cal.App.3d at p. 794.) On appeal, the defendants argued "the act of taking the victims from the physical education building to the administration building did not constitute the crime of kidnaping but rather was an asportation incidental to the crime of false imprisonment ... ." (Apo, supra, 25 Cal.App.3d at p. 795.) The Apo court rejected this argument for two reasons. First, as a matter of fact, substantial evidence supported the conclusion that the movement substantially increased the risk of harm to the victims. (Id. at pp. 795-796.) Second, as a matter of law, the movement was not merely incidental to the false imprisonment. (Id. at pp. 796-797.)