Court Opinion

ID: 9846466
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 03:41:46.457103+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:19:33.190903
License: Public Domain

Guy, J.
(concurring in part, dissenting in part) — As a comparison retail shopper, I look at price tags. I understand the amount charged for an item may differ from store to store or that the item may even be "on sale”. When I wish to purchase a retail item, I further understand I must pay the amount listed on the price tag. If I am a shoplifter, *441however, these rules mysteriously disappear. Remarkably, this court permits a shoplifter to find the lowest offered retail price for the merchandise stolen after his or her arrest. In my view, a thief, at a minimum, should comparison shop before, not after, he or she decides to steal. Where retail goods are offered at a fixed price, a thief should be bound by that price.
When Defendant Sandra Sue Kleist entered a Bon Marché in Spokane County on August 5, 1992, she was on notice through price tags the seven articles of clothing she attempted to steal had a combined value of $299. During trial, Ms. Kleist attempted to introduce testimony the seven articles of clothing stolen from The Bon Marché could be purchased "on sale” at Nordstrom for less than $250. The trial court excluded the proffered testimony. The Court of Appeals affirmed, holding:
The value of an item at a particular retail outlet includes, in addition to the intrinsic value of the item, certain intangibles related to the specific outlet where the item is sold, including the store’s reputation, ambience, and the nature and extent of precautions taken against shoplifting. Because these intangibles vary, the price at which the same goods are sold at another store is not relevant so long as evidence is available to establish their price at the store from which they were stolen.
(Italics mine.) State v. Kleist, 74 Wn. App. 429, 431, 873 P.2d 587 (1994); State v. Rainwater, 75 Wn. App. 256, 262, 876 P.2d 979 (1994).
The Legislature defined "value” for determining different degrees of theft as "the market value of the property or services at the time and in the approximate area of the criminal act.” (Italics mine.) RCW 9A.56.010(12)(a). "Market value” was not defined by the Legislature, but it has been defined by Washington courts as "the price which a well-informed buyer would pay to a well-informed seller, where neither is obliged to enter into the transaction.” State v. Clark, 13 Wn. App. 782, 787, 537 P.2d 820 (1975); State v. Farrer, 57 Wn. App. 207, 209, 787 P.2d 935 (1990). Neither *442the Legislature nor this court has defined "approximate area”.
I would hold for purposes of RCW 9A.56.010(12)(a), when merchandise is sold from a retail store where price tags establish the amount to be paid for the merchandise and the price is not negotiable, the "market value” of the merchandise is the dollar amount on the price tag. This rule recognizes elementary market economics that well-informed sellers routinely sell goods at retail to well-informed buyers. Here, The Bon Marché is a well-informed seller with many well-informed buyers.
The majority opinion creates more problems than it solves. Foremost, the majority ignores how its rule will be applied by the State against a criminal defendant. For example, assume converse facts: Ms. Kleist stole seven articles of clothing from Nordstrom with a combined value of $240. Under the majority’s opinion, the State may pursue a felony charge based on testimony other stores, including The Bon Marché, sell the seven articles of clothing for a combined value of $299. The ability to increase charges based upon retail "values” produces uncertain and inconsistent results that unfairly prejudice a criminal defendant. The line between a gross misdemeanor and a felony should not be elastic.
A second problem with the majority opinion is that it defines "approximate area” too broadly. For example, does "approximate area” mean an adjoining store, a common mall, across the street, or within the city or county? To promote certainty and consistency, I would limit the "approximate area” to the relevant area — the retail store where the merchandise was stolen. When goods are not sold at retail, the "approximate area” is enlarged accordingly. See State v. Hancock, 44 Wn. App. 297, 721 P.2d 1006 (1986) (the cost of a case of cheese at the Tacoma docks is sufficient to establish the "market value” of 139 cases of cheese stolen from Mason County); see also State v. Clark, 13 Wn. *443App. at 784 (valuing stolen steel); State v. Duncan, 148 Wash. 57, 268 P. 139 (1928) (valuing stolen chickens).
The "value” assigned to clothing by Nordstrom is not relevant to establish the "value” assigned to clothing by The Bon Marché. I would affirm the Court of Appeals.
Durham, C.J., and Smith and Talmadge, JJ., concur with Guy, J.