Jury Acquits Man Of 99-Cent Hot Dog Theft

CHENEY, Wash. -- A man has been cleared of a theft charge after a bemused jury in Washington state found him not guilty of stealing a 99-cent hot dog.

John Richardson got the sausage from the self-serve counter of a Cheney, Wash., grocery store in December. He ate it while he shopped but forgot to include it when he paid for his groceries.

Store managers confronted Richardson and called police.

It took jurors about five minutes to reach their verdict in the February trial. Juror Patrick Reeves tells The Spokesman-Review someone would "have to be an idiot" not to realize Richardson simply forgot to pay.

Prosecutor Julie McKay didn't buy that. She says Richardson refused a deal to pay a $200 civil penalty and have the charge dropped.

Store officials declined to comment.

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Comments

[Rick Cain]

03:04 PM on 05/05/2011

All they had to do was yell at him like a Korean grocer does. "You eat hotdog, you pay or you no shop here anymore!"

[Chockolate]

08:21 AM on 05/02/2011

It was the thin edge of the wedge. Today a hot dog, tomorrow he'll be butchering prostitutes.

[Caymus77]

08:44 PM on 05/01/2011

So... let's review..Man is shopping in store,eats hot dog,and forgets to tell checker. Store treats man like a common criminal and calls police. Prosecutor offers a "deal" for the man to pay $200 for that 99 cent hot dog and acts surprised when Man rejects "deal". First off;presumably this man has shopped in this store before and is in fact a regular customer..NOT any longer! The store has just lost this man's business and, likely, much more business from bad publicity.

The prosecutor looks like an idiot and just may have attracted the attention of the voters. Can you say "Adios Prosecutor"?

All for a 99 cent hot dog that probably cost the store 30 cents?

[Ghostberry]

12:59 PM on 05/02/2011

Most cases are settled out of court, the system is stacked to not actually go to trial, good for him not paying that ridiculous ticket.

[fireart]

03:35 PM on 05/01/2011

A number of years ago a 5yr. old swiped some candy at a Walmart store that was at his eye level. The father brought him back in to teach him a lesson like they use to do and the manager filed criminal charges against the child and got child services involved. The manager said this was Co. policy with no exemptions. The only thing that saved the kid was Paul Harvey told the story on radio and the charges were droped.

[frank day]

06:56 PM on 04/30/2011

I want to know the name of the store and the name of the manager.

[calltoaction]

10:48 PM on 04/30/2011

and the police officer!

[JohnDewey]

06:54 PM on 04/30/2011

This isn't America - we're living in a Victor Hugo novel.

[SpikeC]

05:33 PM on 05/01/2011

Bad news, sport, this IS America now.

[Chef Typhoid Mary]

03:12 PM on 04/29/2011

I would ask the Prosecutor to prove the hot dog was worth $.99 by eating one. LOL

[IgnoranceIsStrength]

03:01 PM on 04/29/2011

I served on a jury where the charge was having an illegal gun. No one saw the gun. Not the police or one witness saw a gun at the location or anywhere. He was prosecuted on just a tip. What a waste of money and time. I could not believe it.

[anytimecowboy]

01:39 PM on 04/29/2011

I would have refused the "deal" also. Innocent people do not plea. I was told by a Constitutional Law Prof "If you are caught with the roach in your hand, Plead not guilty"

[MrsOrtiz]

06:17 PM on 04/28/2011

Reminds me of the contractor who was buying over a hundred of dollars worth of supplies at Home Depot. He borrowed a 41-cent pencil, then absentmindedly stuck it in his pocket. When he left, a security guard chased him down in the parking lot, brought him to the office, made him sign a document banning him from all Home Depot's and threatened him with a civil suit.

Where is the logic in losing a customer's business and creating a PR disaster just to make an example of a perfectly honest and extremely minor mistake?

[DMSmith]

06:15 PM on 04/28/2011

"Prosecutor Julie McKay didn't buy that. She says Richardson refused a deal to pay a $200 civil penalty and have the charge dropped."
...and the jurors just showed why he did the right thing. Pay $200 to essentially leave his arrest standing and NOT clear his name? Pay $200 to let that same Prosecutor get away with defaming him?
An innocent person does make themselves guilty by refusing an ill-advised plead deal.
This Prosecutor is not worth what they pay her. Her comments prove that.

[calltoaction]

10:51 PM on 04/30/2011

prosecutor has to keep her "numbers" up

[AngusC]

06:00 PM on 04/28/2011

I was watching this on the news yesterday and could not believe how ridiculous a story this was.
The prosecutor should be fired and everyone should boycott this store until they go bankrupt.

[Murphdogg]

05:20 PM on 04/28/2011

Prosecutor Julie McKay should be charged with Grand Theft (more than $1000) of taxpayer money. She is an A$$HAT.

[goodmarina]

04:00 PM on 04/28/2011

It seems, more often than not - we live during a time where we forget that to err is human ... and to offer a simple gesture of grace and forgiveness is divine.   Instead, the store manager, police and prosecutor wasted valuable taxpayer $$ ... because a man's word that he simply forgot was not good enough.

Instead, it seems - the Prosecutor was hell bent on getting the man to admit "guilt" of theft and pay the $200 fee ... instead of simply asking him to pay the store the 99 cents and apologize for the oversight.

Where is our common sense and common decency as a society?

[DMSmith]

06:16 PM on 04/28/2011

Be careful. Don't ask questions you do not want to hear the answers to.

[karela]

01:40 PM on 04/28/2011

I'd boycot the store for being stupid and vote out the prosecutor for being more stupid. Geesh! I wonder how much that one cost the tax payers!!!

[calltoaction]

10:53 PM on 04/30/2011

likely a big corporate chain station with strict policies and procedures and no ties to the community. shop local, family owned businesses.