1. Vaughn V. Wal-Mart stores, inc.
Presented By:
Sawn, Alexander
Lintz, Natasha
Yamamato, Kenta
Nagel, Alyse
Singh, Sandeep

2. Parties involved
Amanda & Jason Vaughn
Whitney Dickerson
Wal-Mart
Ms. Neal
&
Whitney Dickerson on behalf of his minor daughter filed suit against Wal-mart.

3. Facts
July 31st, Amanda and Jason Vaughn were accompanied by their Mother to Wal- Mart, along with a friend Kimberly Dickerson.
Kimberly reached her hand into her bag of her already purchased items when Ms. Neal approached her.

4. Facts
Ms. Neal testified that she had asked Kimberly to hand her the bag and receipt because she looked suspicious, and that Kimberly voluntarily gave her the bag.
After Ms. Neal checked her purchases the girls were told to wait in the front of the store for their party.

5. More Facts
Ms. Neal claimed that she thought, Mrs. Vaughn’s son Jason Vaughn was a look-out person. This claimed was refuted later.
Whitney Dickerson(on behalf of his Daughter Kimberly) later filed suit against Wal-mart to recover damages for wrongful detention.
Trail court awarded each child $ plus court costs. (Later this award was reversed)

6. Facts continued.. Defendant Appeals Judgment.
Amanda Vaughn is without merit. Ms. Neal had not spoken to her.
Whole incident lasted approx. 60 seconds

7. Precedential Cases McNeely v. Nat'l Tea Co., 94-392
Under normal circumstances, private citizens have no authority to detain individuals for petty theft, a misdemeanor under La. R.S. 14:67.10.

8. Precedential Cases
DEBORAH MORRIS v. DILLARD DEPARTMENT STORES, INC; ET AL
La.Code Crim. P. art. 215 gives quasi-police powers to merchants and their agents to protect against shoplifting and gives them immunity from liability for malicious prosecution when the detainer has reasonable cause to believe that a theft of goods has occurred on their premises.

9. What is false imprisonment?
False imprisonment is a tort, and possibly a crime, wherein a person is intentionally confined without legal authority.
The elements of the tort are:
An "Act". The act must be physical and volitional.
An Intent to confine the other or a third person within boundaries fixed by the actor
Confinement actually occurs
The act caused the confinement
The person confined is aware of their confinement or harmed by it
False imprisonment can include a number of different circumstances from kidnapping, to the imprisonment of an innocent person, to the physical restraint of a nursing home resident. Though cases of false imprisonment can differ widely, a situation must satisfy certain requirements in order to legally constitute false imprisonment.

10. Rights of a loss prevention officer
Investigating the individual on or near store property. The detention must be held on the store property or nearby. Actual detainment must be done on the store premises but the owner is allowed to chase the suspected person if the person runs from the store or property. The detainment's only purpose must be to decide if property of the suspect is stolen goods. It is not lawful to try to force a confession from the person.
Reasonable belief. The owner must have reason to believe that the person detained has or is about to steal property.

11. Rights of a loss prevention officer
Use of reasonable force only. Using force is allowed if the suspected person runs or tries to resist detention. The force must be reasonable and non-deadly. The owner may not handcuff the person, force them to lie or sit on the ground, and they also must allow the person to look for a receipt.
Short time period and reasonable manner of detainment. The detention may only be for a very short time. The detainment must also be held in a reasonable manner.
The privilege for the most part is to be able to return the stolen goods by determining ownership. The shopkeeper may not force a confession. The shopkeeper's privilege does not include the power of search

12. Louisiana Law
Louisiana is the only one of the 50 states which bases its legal system on civil, as opposed to common, law. These are the two prominent legal systems in the Western world. Louisiana's main body of statutes is known as the Civil Code.

13. Louisiana Law 168 False Imprisonment 168I Civil Liability
168I(A) Acts Constituting False Imprisonment and Liability Therefore
168k15 Persons Liable
168k15(1) k. In general.

14. False Imprisonment conditions
1) unreasonable force was used, or 2) no reasonable cause existed for the belief that the suspect had committed a theft of goods, or 3) the detention lasted more than 60 minutes, unless it was reasonable under the circumstances that the suspect be detained longer. LSA-C.Cr.P. art. 215.

15. Points of View Defendant: Kimberly was wrongfully detained.
Plaintiff: No evidence of wrongful detention.
The Second Parish Court: entered judgment on jury verdict in favor of plaintiffs, and awarded $500 to each child plus court costs. Store appealed.
The Court of Appeal, Grisbaum, J., held that children were not falsely imprisoned by department store.

16. Point of View
Industrial: In 2001, it was claimed that shoplifting cost US retailers $25 million a day.
Social: Merchants are losing money every day, which means less jobs and less revenue for the cities to collect.

17. Statistics SHOPLIFTING STATISTICS
Shoplifting is the number one property crime in America
Over 10% of the public shoplifts
Teen or juveniles make up 25% of all shoplifters
Retailers lose over $20 billion worth of stolen goods each year

18. Issues #1
Question: Do merchants (in general) have the right to detain people in their store? Answer: A police officer, merchant, or a specifically authorized employee or agent of a merchant, may use reasonable force to detain a person for questioning on the merchant's premises, for a length of time, not to exceed sixty minutes, unless it is reasonable under the circumstances that the person be detained longer, when he/she has reasonable cause to believe that the person has committed a theft of goods held for sale by the merchant, regardless of the actual value of the goods.

19. Issue #2
Question: Was Jason Vaughn’s claim of being detained by Ms. Neal legit? Answer: No, Jason Vaughns claim is without merit. Jason was not even present at the time of the incident or ever asked to stay with the girls. Ms. Neal never even directly talked to Jason leave alone being accused of stealing.

20. Issues #3
Question: Was Amanda Vaughn wrongfully detained? Answer: There is no evidence that Ms. Neal ever talked to Amanda directly, except to tell her to go to the front of the store. Ms. Neal stated that the girls were given the option to go to the front of the store and wait for their party or to check their bag at the service desk.

21. Issue #4 Question: Was Amanda Vaughn wrongfully detained?
Answer: No unreasonable force was used against Amanda neither did the incident last more than 60 minutes, she was only stopped by Ms. Neal and told to go to the front of the store where she had the option to leave.

22. Issue #5 Question: Did Ms. Neal act reasonably in detaining Kimberly?
Answer: Reasonable cause is defined as being something less than probable cause and requires that the detaining officer have articulable knowledge of particular facts sufficiently reasonable to suspect the detained person of criminal activity. Since Kimberly was in a suspicious area continuously going through her bag, there is enough reasonable cause for detainment.

23. Conclusion
We find the actions of appellant's employee were reasonable and, thus, meet the requirements of an authorized detention under La.Code Crim. P. art. 215, appellant is immune from civil liability. For the reasons assigned, the trial court's judgment is hereby reversed. All costs of this appeal are to be assessed against the appellees.

24. Interpretation of Conclusion
Mrs. Neil did have the right to briefly question Kimberly (a potential shoplifter) and ask for her receipt and to look in her bag.
Mrs. Neil also had the right to tell them to wait in front for their parties, leaving the option of leaving still open.

25. Concepts
False imprisonment: “The purpose of Lousiana law is to provide merchants with authority to detain and question persons suspected of shoplifting without subjecting them to suits by those detaining persons on the basis of false imprisonment when the merchants have reasonable cause to believe at theft of goods has occurred.”
Furthermore, “the statute provides immunity only to those merchants who have conducted a reasonable post detention inquiry of a person.”

26. Implications
Economically: Stores have the right to protect merchandise with use of security to help keep prices low and profit high.
Socially: Any person acting suspiciously may be detained by a store and questioned.
Personally: I work in a retail store and must keep an eye out for any suspicious activity, also I must show my purse and bags at the door.

27. The End Questions?