If the shoplifted merchandise is on sale, is the crime not quite so bad?
Police in Rutland, Vt., recently accused Cheryl Newton of stealing about $100 worth of goods from the Rutland Price Chopper supermarket, including doughnuts, batteries, cigarettes and videotapes.
When the retail prices were added up, the tab came to $101.49. That’s over Vermont’s $100 threshold for a felony retail theft charge, which can get one up to 10 years in prison.
Newton’s public defender wants to take into account sales going on at the store that day: Namely, the batteries and doughnuts were marked down–enough to lower the bill to $97.37 and the charge to a misdemeanor, punishable by a $300 fine and six months in jail.
Police said that if shoppers want the sale price at Price Chopper, they have to show a courtesy card at the register, which Newton didn’t do.
At present, Newton, 32, of Shaftsbury, is jailed on other retail theft charges. No trial date has been set for the new charges.
