Lyon v. Fred's, Inc.

971 F. Supp. 239, 1997 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10562, 1997 WL 456594
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Mississippi
DecidedJuly 15, 1997
DocketNo. 2:96CV141-B-B
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 971 F. Supp. 239 (Lyon v. Fred's, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Mississippi primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lyon v. Fred's, Inc., 971 F. Supp. 239, 1997 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10562, 1997 WL 456594 (N.D. Miss. 1997).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

BIGGERS, District Judge.

This cause comes before the court on the defendant’s motion for summary judgment. The court has duly considered the parties’ memoranda and exhibits and is ready to rule.

I. Introduction

This cause arises out of an incident in the defendant’s store in Cleveland, Mississippi resulting in the plaintiffs arrest and acquittal on a shoplifting charge. The plaintiff initially alleged false imprisonment, false arrest, slander and intentional infliction of emotional distress and amended the complaint to add the tort claim of malicious prosecution.1 In [240]*240response to the instant motion, the plaintiff has expressly abandoned all claims, except the malicious prosecution claim.

II. Timeliness

With respect to the malicious prosecution claim, the defendant moves for summary judgment on the ground of untimeliness. The defendant contends that the claim is barred under the applicable statute of limitations and the court-ordered deadlines for amendments.2 The statutory limitations period expired on July 4, 1996. Miss.Code Ann. § 15-1-35 (requiring commencement of actions for certain intentional torts, including malicious arrest, within one year after the cause of action accrues). The malicious prosecution claim was first alleged in the pleading filed on May 21, 1997 styled “Corrected First Amended Complaint.”3 The court finds that under the express terms of Rule 15(c)(2)4 the malicious prosecution allegation relates back to the original filing date of July 3, 1996 and is therefore not barred by the statute of limitations.5

With respect to court-ordered deadlines, the court finds that the February 4, 1997 deadline set in the United States Magistrate Judge’s November 14, 1996 Case Management Plan and Scheduling Order is irrelevant. On February 6, 1997 the plaintiff moved to amend the complaint to add the malicious prosecution claim. On February 26, 1997 the magistrate judge granted the plaintiff ten days to file an amended complaint, thereby extending the February 4 deadline. On March 5, 1997 the plaintiff filed the second6 “First Amended Complaint” but failed to incorporate the requested amendment therein. The instant motion was filed on May 9, 1997, at which time the defendant addressed the merits of the malicious prosecution claim and on May 21, 1997 the plaintiff filed the “Corrected First Amended Complaint”7 alleging malicious prosecution. The plaintiff asserts that the omission of the malicious prosecution claim in the pleading filed on March 5, 1997 was a clerical error. It is clear to the court that the omission was inadvertent since the pleading filed on March 5, 1997 contains no amendments to the previously filed “First Amended Complaint.” Since the amended complaint filed before the ten-day deadline did not include the malicious prosecution claim, the court finds that, technically, the corrected complaint was filed without leave of court. However, the court finds that the defendant, having been put on notice of the amendment in February, 1997 and having addressed the merits of the anticipated malicious prosecution claim in the instant motion and supporting memoranda, has not been prejudiced by the plaintiffs delay in formally amending the complaint. Accordingly, the malicious prosecution claim should not be precluded, particularly since the plaintiff has abandoned all other tort claims arising out of the same incident.

III. Qualified Privilege

The defendant contends that it has statutory immunity from liability for malicious prosecution. Miss.Code Ann. § 97-23-95 provides in pertinent part:

If any person shall commit or attempt to commit the offense of shoplifting, or if any person shall wilfully conceal upon his person or otherwise any unpurchased goods, ... the merchant or any employee thereof ... acting in good faith and upon probable cause based upon reasonable grounds therefor, may question such person in a [241]*241reasonable manner for the purpose of ascertaining whether or not such person is guilty of shoplifting as defined herein. Such questioning of a person by a merchant, merchant’s employee ... shall not render such merchant, merchant’s employee ... civilly liable for slander, false arrest, false imprisonment, malicious prosecution, unlawful detention or otherwise in any case where such merchant, merchant’s employee ... acts in good faith and upon reasonable grounds to believe that the person questioned is committing or attempting to commit the crime of shoplifting.

(Emphasis added.) Citing no case authority, the defendant asserts that the Mississippi legislature has extended section 97-23-95 immunity to claims for malicious prosecution, thereby contemplating that a patron suspected of shoplifting might be arrested, prosecuted and acquitted. The plaintiff asserts that the statute does not provide immunity from wrongfully initiating the prosecution of a suspected shoplifter. Under the express terms of the statute, the available immunity is qualified in that the defendant’s actions must be based on good faith and probable cause, i.e., “reasonable grounds to believe that the person questioned is committing or attempting to commit the crime of shoplifting.” Construing the scope of the immunity, the Mississippi Supreme Court has held:

A careful reading of [former section 97-23-51 (1972)]8 ... reveals that the protection afforded under the statute is the questioning of a suspect in a reasonable manner for the purpose of ascertaining whether or not he is guilty of shoplifting. It is the stopping, detaining momentarily, and questioning which enjoys the statutory privilege, not the subsequent institution of criminal proceedings.

Owens v. The Kroger Co., 430 So.2d 843 (Miss.1983) (affirming dismissal of only the claims for slander and false imprisonment “as to what transpired in the store,” the court found no qualified privilege to institute criminal charge for shoplifting). The court has explained:

Section 97-23-51 (1972) ... was a legislative enactment for the protection of retail stores from shoplifting and to give the store personnel an opportunity to make certain actions in investigating alleged shoplifting under certain guidelines.

McWilliams v. Watkins, 430 So.2d 854, 856 (Miss.1983). The court concludes that questioning for the purpose of ascertaining whether a person shoplifted is the only privileged activity under the express terms of the statute.9 Any questioning, if conducted in good faith and upon probable cause, would not render the defendant liable for malicious prosecution. However, any other actions by the defendant, including the insistence of the plaintiffs arrest and the filing of an affidavit, do not fall within the scope of qualified immunity. Therefore, the court finds that the defendant’s immunity argument is misplaced.

IV. Objections to Affidavit Testimony

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Related

Lyon v. Fred's Inc
176 F.3d 478 (Fifth Circuit, 1999)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
971 F. Supp. 239, 1997 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10562, 1997 WL 456594, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lyon-v-freds-inc-msnd-1997.