SIMMONS, JANNACE & STAGG OBTAINS DEFENSE VERDICT IN FALSE ARREST CASE

November 1, 2004 … East Meadow, New York

Simmons, Jannace & Stagg announced today that it obtained a defense verdict following a jury trial on behalf of its client, Absolute Security. A New York County jury returned a verdict in the company’s favor following a four day trial. Absolute Security provided security services to a popular bookstore at which the plaintiff in the case was accused of shoplifting several art books. Some of the books plaintiff was accused of stealing were rare or out of print. The plaintiff in the case was charged with Petit Larceny and Criminal Possession of Stolen Property in the Fifth Degree, both in violation of the New York Penal Law. He was arraigned, tried before a jury and found not guilty of both counts. The plaintiff subsequently sued the security company for false arrest and defamation and the bookstore for malicious prosecution. Prior to trial, the plaintiff demanded $125,000 to settle.

The security company’s witness testified at trial that he observed the plaintiff remove books to the store’s café where he peeled security tags from the books and placed them in his bag. Plaintiff was stopped when he attempted to remove the books from the store, at which time a bookstore manager got involved and the police were summoned. The police arrived and, after inspecting the books, arrested the plaintiff. A cutting instrument was not found in plaintiff’s possession.

The Plaintiff’s wife testified at trial that following her husband’s arrest she went to the bookstore and advised that her husband owned the books in question. The plaintiff, an art student, testified that he had purchased the books prior to entering the store and produced a receipt that allegedly proved ownership of some of the books. He admitted that he had removed the bar codes on the books with a knife; however he claimed that he removed them prior to entering the store. The plaintiff claimed that he replaced the barcodes with a hand sketched drawing to distinguish his books from those of his classmates. He also claimed that his name was written in the books, and that an inspection of the books would have revealed that they were not new. The bookstore did not preserve the books, but instead placed them back on the sales floor where they were presumably sold.

The jury found that the security company’s conduct was privileged, as was the bookstore’s. The security company also prevailed on cross-claims asserted by the bookstore seeking to recoup its attorneys fees. The Court denied the cross-claims on the ground that there was no finding of negligence by the security company.