Opinion ID: 1634131
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Amended instruction D-9 reads:

Text: The Court instructs the jury that you may not award damages against Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. based upon the mere fact that no unpaid for merchandise of Wal-Mart was found upon the person of Trenette Boone or Johnny Staten. The law of the State of Mississippi allows a merchant to stop and question a person to investigate whether merchandise of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. had been taken, if you find a preponderance of the evidence that Wal-Mart's employees acted in good faith and upon probable cause, based upon reasonable grounds therefore, to suspect either Trenette Boone or Johnny Staten, or both of them of shoplifting. You may not judge the conduct of Wal-Mart's employees by exercising hindsight, but rather you must judge their conduct based upon the observations and facts known to them at the moment these events occurred. Should you find from a preponderance of the evidence that the employees of Wal-Mart acted in good faith and upon probable cause, based upon reasonable grounds therefore, to suspect either Trenette Boone or Johnny Staten, or both of them of shoplifting, then Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. is immune from liability for these actions, and you must return a verdict in favor of the Defendant Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. The trial court erred in granting this instruction. In both their motion for a new trial and their brief on appeal, Boone and Staten forcefully argue that in order to enjoy privilege afforded by Section 97-23-95, the defendant must affirmatively prove more than good faith and probable cause. Boone and Staten assert that in order to be immune from damages, the defendant must also prove that it conducted the questioning of the suspected shoplifters in a reasonable manner. The appellants are correct in their assertion. Wal-Mart asserts that the statements of its employees were made in good faith and that probable cause was a question for the jury to determine. We agree and assume, as we must, that the jury followed its instructions and resolved this evidence in favor of Wal-Mart. However, the instruction is still erroneous since the statute commands that the questioning be done in a reasonable manner. Otherwise a jury could find that Wal-Mart acted unreasonably and still be constrained to return a verdict for the defendant. This Court has stated: Whether privilege is available as a defense may depend on the manner in which the communication is made. The protection of a qualified privilege may be lost by the manner of its exercise, although belief in the truth of the charge exists. Southwest Drug Stores of Mississippi v. Garner, 195 So.2d 837, 841 (1967). In Garner, [the shopkeeper] had observed [the female customer] and believed by [the customer's] actions that [the customer] was committing an act of shoplifting; that [the customers] actions gave him probable cause to investigate, and that he acted in good faith and upon an occasion of privilege in carrying out his duties to protect his employer's property. Although the occasion was one of qualified privilege, the privilege was lost by the manner in which it was exercised. The customer testified, and the jury found, that she was wrongfully accused of stealing in a rude and loud voice in the presence of other people outside the place of business. Granting that [the shopkeeper] had reason to believe that [the customer] had put a bar of soap in her purse and left the store without paying for it, and that [the shopkeeper] had probable cause to make inquiry, still [the shopkeeper] was careless and negligent in his method of ascertaining whether [the customer] had paid for the soap. Id. at 840 (emphasis added). The record reveals that there are significant factual issues for the jury to decide. These include whether Maeola Gill should have told the police to pursue Staten and Boone and then absent herself when they returned to clear the air. Also disputed is whether Wal-Mart conducted the questioning at the front of the store reasonably. The foregoing instruction is erroneous, because it allowed the jury to find Wal-Mart not liable despite a finding that Wal-Mart conducted the questioning in an unreasonable manner.