Graf v. McCrory Corp.

• Decision Date: 07 March 1979
• Docket Number: No. 9822,9822
• Citation: 368 So.2d 1217
• Parties: Raymond A. GRAF v. McCRORY CORPORATION.
• Court: Court of Appeal of Louisiana — District of US

Page 1217

368 So.2d 1217

Raymond A. GRAF v. McCRORY CORPORATION.

No. 9822.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fourth Circuit.

March 7, 1979.

Edward K. Pinner, Sr., New Orleans, for plaintiff-appellee.

Nelson, Nelson & Lombard, Ltd., New Orleans, Richard G. Vinet, Gretna, for defendant-appellant.

Before REDMANN, LEMMON and GARRISON, JJ.

LEMMON, Judge.

This is an action to recover damages sustained by plaintiff arising out of his arrest and prosecution instigated by defendant's agents. After a trial on the merits judgment was rendered in favor of plaintiff, and defendant appealed.

Plaintiff, an employee of an optical store on Canal Street in New Orleans, related the following facts: On January 20, 1976 he entered McCrory's store during his lunch hour, wearing a black vinyl jacket he had purchased for $19.03 in the same store about two weeks earlier. He bought two small toys for his children, and after eating a sandwich at the snack bar he immediately left the store and went across the street to have a cup of coffee at Kress' store, where he was well known because of having worked in the area for over 20 years. A security guard from McCrory's, wearing plain clothes, approached him in Kress', displayed his identification and requested him to return to McCrory's, which they did. In a private interrogation room at McCrory's the guard accused him of stealing the jacket. He requested an opportunity to call his wife or employer to verify his ownership of the jacket, but the guard refused and called the police. He was handcuffed by the police, led through the store into the police car, taken to central lockup, charged with theft and possession of stolen goods, and jailed until his wife was able to obtain the money to post bond. After pleading not guilty, he went to court ten times before being tried and found not guilty. Each time that he appeared in court he brought five or six witnesses, and after the first few appearances, he was offered a proposition whereby the charges would be dropped if he executed a release of McCrory's liability. When he refused to execute a release, the prosecution was maintained until he was finally tried. He incurred attorney's fees of $500.00 in connection with the arrest and prosecution.

Roland Parker, the security guard whose testimony was apparently rejected by the trial court, stated that he noticed plaintiff (whom he had never seen before) enter the store without a jacket and later saw him try on the jacket and leave without paying for it. (Plaintiff's version was that he did not walk within 40 feet of the jacket rack.) The guard denied plaintiff told him about purchasing the jacket earlier or requested an opportunity to call his wife or his employer until after the police arrived.

Plaintiff's employer and another optician testified that plaintiff was wearing the jacket during the morning on the...