DSYoung - slight hijack, but it’s nice to know there’s a trained lawyer watching a store’s policy and approach to prosecutions. In this area, years ago, I once got a case kicked because the store pressed charges against a person that was videotaped in one county concealing merchandise and then in another county trying to return very similar merchandise for cash. The concealment charge was dismissed for lack of venue, since they were prosecuting in county #2, and they pressed forward with a theft charge (a continuing offense, so no venue problems). But since they could not prove that the merchandise taken was the same merchandise being returned, the videotape not being detailed enough to show the specific items, and no nexus because the events were separated by a day… they failed to sustain their burden. Nicely, that acquittal was a double jeopardy bar against prosecution in county #1 for theft.
The store witnesses were obviously baffled and upset at the verdict. I could have told them they would have in much better shape prosecuting in county #1, of course, but that wasn’t my job… [/hijack]
- Rick