Legal Question in Personal Injury in Virginia

Re: False Imprisonment

You claim that you were restrained behind a fence until you paid a service charge? This sounds quite bizzare.

If true, you might have other tort claims which you could bring against your imprisoners in addition to false imprisonment such as battery and even, perhaps, some form of defamation, if in fact you were exposed to the humiliating gazes of passersby during your detention.

Therefore, I would concur in Mr. Moseley's recommendation that you might wish to discuss this matter with an attorney.

Re: False Imprisonment

In theory, yes. That is the "tort" of false imprisonment. In other words, the government can be guilty of false imprisonment. But a private party can also be guilty as an old common law civil tort.

Since this would be (if it is successful) an intentional tort, you may be able to get punitive damages without showing any particular harm.

However, you are right to focus on the key question of what exactly your damages would be. That frequently is an important and major issue. It is often possible to prove that someone has "wronged" you and yet your damages are $0.00. Because there are a lot of different things to consider, the advice of an attorney would be the most ideal way of considering this.

If it can be proven that the service charge was assessed in error, then your damages might start out with the return of the service fee, then allowing the court to get into punitive damages as well.

However, Virginia's laws and courts are not very receptive to the big punitive damage lawsuits you may hear about from other states. It may be quite difficult to prove any actual damages worth your time and energy in pursuing the matter.