McCann v. Wal-Mart Question Forum

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rhal22

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McCann v. Wal-Mart Question

Post by rhal22 » Sat Sep 09, 2017 9:40 pm

If you are not familiar with the case, essentially a woman and her two children are falsely imprisoned by a Wal-Mart employee after her children are mistakenly identified as former shoplifters. The court held that the incident did meet the elements of false imprisonment; and therefore, the plaintiff was awarded damages. My question is why didn't the shopkeeper's privilege defense apply in this case? I can only assume that because the plaintiff's two children were falsely identified as former shoplifters, there was no reasonable cause to justify the detention. Am i correct in my analysis? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

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cavalier1138

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Re: McCann v. Wal-Mart Question

Post by cavalier1138 » Sun Sep 10, 2017 8:53 am

Assuming you're a 1L...

Don't try to out-think the case. It has nothing to do with shopkeeper's privilege, and you'll only confuse yourself if you start applying irrelevant caselaw to the ruling.

rhal22

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Re: McCann v. Wal-Mart Question

Post by rhal22 » Sun Sep 10, 2017 6:07 pm

Thanks for the reply. But unfortunately, I have to consider shopkeeper's privilege in relation to that case. I'm working on a hypothetical and the McCann v. Wal-Mart case is the most analogous to my hypothetical. In the hypothetical, I have to determine if shopkeeper's privilege applies.

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cavalier1138

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Re: McCann v. Wal-Mart Question

Post by cavalier1138 » Sun Sep 10, 2017 6:51 pm

What do you mean "working on a hypothetical"? Is this for a practice exam or an assignment?

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