H. B. 2156\
(By Delegate Hendricks, Michael and Campbell)
[Introduced February 17, 1993; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact section four, article three-a,
chapter sixty-one of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended; and to further
amend said article by adding thereto a new section,
designated section four-a, all relating to shoplifting;
extending the length of time an alleged shoplifter may be
detained from thirty minutes to one hour; allowing use of
photographs of items, alleged to have been shoplifted, as
evidence; and allowing the return of the items to the owner.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section four, article three-a, chapter sixty-one of the
code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted; and that said article be
further amended by adding thereto a new section, designated
section four-a, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 3A. SHOPLIFTING.
§61-3A-4. Shoplifting constitutes breach of peace; detention.
An act of shoplifting as defined herein, is hereby declared
to constitute a breach of peace and any owner of merchandise, his
agent or employee, or any law-enforcement officer who has
reasonable ground to believe that a person has committed
shoplifting, may detain such person in a reasonable manner and
for a reasonable length of time not to exceed thirty minutes, one
hour for the purpose of investigating whether or not such person
has committed or attempted to commit shoplifting. Such
reasonable detention shall not constitute an arrest nor shall it
render the owner of merchandise, his agent or employee, liable to
the person detained.
§61-3A-4a. Use of photographs as evidence in certain
shoplifting prosecutions.
In a prosecution for shoplifting under the provisions of
section one of this article, photographs of the goods or
merchandise alleged to have been taken or converted are competent
evidence of the goods or merchandise and are admissible in any
proceeding, hearing or trial of the case to the same extent as if
the goods and merchandise had been introduced as evidence:
Provided,
That a written description of the goods or merchandise
alleged to have been taken or converted, the name of the owner of
the goods or merchandise, or the store or the establishment
wherein the alleged offense occurred, the name of the accused,
the name of the arresting police officer or conservator of the
peace, and the signature of the photographer are appended to the
photographs. When the photograph or photographs and requiredappendages are filed with the police authority or court holding
the goods and merchandise as evidence, the goods or merchandise
shall be returned to the owner, proprietor or manager of the
store or establishment in which the alleged offense occurred.
Nothing in this section may be construed to prevent proper
authentication of the photographs at any hearing or trial in
which they are presented as evidence.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to extend the length of
time an alleged shoplifter may be detained by a store owner from
thirty minutes to one hour. The bill also allows the use of
photographs of the items alleged to have been shoplifted as
evidence in a hearing or trial and it allows store owners to
recover the items when photographs of the items are presented to
the authority holding the items as evidence.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.
§61-3A-4a is new, therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring are omitted in that section.