Ok, the court case is over, so I can talk about it now.
A black lady filed a lawsuit against a local bookstore for malicious prosecution. The bookstore had charged her with theft. She was found innocent in the criminal trial, so she turned around and sued the bookstore.
Her friend apparently bought the items, and they walked through the electronic sensors that did not go off. Later her friend called and said the receipt was missing. She left her real name and phone number and listed the items that were purchased. The store did a search and could not find the transaction. She came in the next day returning a couple items for her friend. The store gave her a refund (even though it was policy not to give refunds without a receipt) to get her personal information. They did not mention anything to her about the theft, but simply filed a complaint after they got the information. She did not find out that there was a warrant out on her until much later.
She and her friend both said under oath that they got a store credit and not cash. The store produced a signed document saying that they got a cash refund.
The complaint was signed by the local prosecuter and taken to trial where she was found innocent.
In this counter trial she represented herself in court. This was a big mistake. She was terribly confused and had to be interrupted numerous times by the judge. I did not find out until later, from her opponent, why this was so.
Even though she was inept in the courtroom, I voted in favor of her. I thought that simply not having the transaction was not enough for the store to file a complaint. There could be other reasons why the store records were wrong, such as an error at the register. I think the behavior clearly demonstrated that they were not thieves.
I thought the store needed a witness, or an alarm, or to catch the person to have probable cause to file a complaint. I thought that charging someone with a crime is serious business and they needed more.
The judge did something very unusual in that she let the jury ask questions. THe plaintiff would question the witness, then the defendant would question, and then we would submit written questions.
At one point, I submitted a question to the store owner asking, how often does a thief call in to the store the same day and give thier real name, real phone number, and the list of items allegedly stolen? I wanted to try to get him to settle, by asking a very pointed question. He did admit it was very unusual, but did not seem to flinch much.
The jury happened to consist of 6 white men. I was outvoted 5-1, so she lost. Several of the jurors thanked me for voting for her, as they felt that the case was not cut and dry and it was good for her to know that her view of the events was seriously considered, and she was not dismissed quickly with a unanimous jury against her.
After the trial, the bookstore lawyer asked me about voting against him, and I told him that for a serious thing like accusing someone of a crime, I thought he needed more evidence of wrongdoing other that just store records that did not show the transaction. Then he told me that they had tried to settle with her, and she refused and fired her lawyer because she was afraid he would settle. Lawyers need a settlement to collect a bill.
