Jury to decide merits of prosecutor’s new shoplifting policy
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – A trial is underway in a test case for an aggressive new approach against Knox County shoplifters that could land repeat offenders in prison for years.
The Knoxville News Sentinel (http://bit.ly/1T74AES) reports that having been accused of stealing three DVDs from a Walmart store, 40-year-old Nikia Bowens is charged with felony burglary, in addition to misdemeanor shoplifting charges.
Knox County Assistant District Attorney General TaKisha Fitzgerald told jurors Wednesday that Bowens knew he was on Walmart’s “no trespass list” for repeat offenders when he entered the Knoxville store in December 2014.
District Attorney General Charme Allen last year authorized the use of felony burglary charges to prosecute petty thieves, arguing that a shoplifter banned from a store is committing business burglary, which carries a minimum two-year prison term.
