“A reasonable juror could have also concluded that Mr. Leist’s decision to flee inside the store did not operate independently of his apprehension by Walmart employees in the store’s vestibule, so that his flight was not the sole proximate cause of Ms. Ankrom’s injury,” state Supreme Court Justice Beth Walker wrote in a recent opinion.
Got that? Or do you need to hit the translate button?
The judge has ruled! We have no idea what she said, but it sounded authoritative, and she’s a judge and all. Well, that’s that!
Or is it? Let’s hit the translate button.
Mr. Leist was detained, under suspicion of shoplifting, after exiting the Walmart in Parkersburg in February 2015. If you’ve worked retail, you know not to accuse customers of shoplifting until after they’ve left the store. First, because, even if they’ve concealed something on their persons inside the store, they haven’t technically stolen it yet. Second, because they’ll insist they were planning to pay for the concealed item(s) at checkout.
So, a Walmart security guard nabs this guy after he leaves the store, ushers him back into the vestibule to confirm he has stolen items on him and hold him for police, and the thief breaks away and bolts – not out into the parking lot, but back into the store, where he runs into a shopper and knocks her down.
In 2019, a Wood County jury awarded her $16.9 million in damages, placing 30 percent of the blame on Walmart, and our state Supreme Court upheld that decision. (To meet his 70 percent share, the shoplifter will have to become much more proficient at his chosen profession.)
Two years ago, Walker and three of her fellow justices were named in articles of impeachment and censured for maladministration and extravagant spending. Perhaps they should have been sanctioned instead for tortured reasoning.
