$4.8 Million an hour

That's what a jury awarded a Georgia woman who was handcuffed after being falsely accused of shoplifting.

A Columbus woman has won a $1.2 million jury verdict in compensatory damages for being falsely arrested for shoplifting at the Peachtree Mall Rich's store, which now is called Macy's.

The case in Muscogee Superior Court was scheduled to enter a penalty phase Friday, but the lawyers agreed to a sealed settlement, said Judge Robert Johnston.

According to court records and the plaintiff's lawyers, on May 21, 2003, Patricia Gail Jackson, a 56-year-old nurse at The Medical Center, bought some clothing for her terminally ill son, who later died. As she walked through the store toward the exit, she stopped at a table displaying shirts. She reached into her Rich's bag and pulled out a pair of shorts she had bought in the store minutes earlier. She wanted to see if the shorts would match the shirt. After she decided not to buy the shirt, she put the tagged shorts back in the Rich's bag and left the store.

As she walked to her car, two Rich's plainclothes detectives confronted her. They told her she was caught shoplifting. Jackson said she hadn't stolen anything and could show the detectives a receipt for the items in her bag. But the detectives refused to look in her bag or at the receipt. They told her to come with them to the detention room.

Since the detectives weren't in uniform, Jackson was wary and scared. She recalled the kidnapping and murder of Linda Rogers, a mother of three who was abducted from the Peachtree Mall parking lot 10 years ago. So Jackson wouldn't go with the detectives and said she wanted to call the police on her cell phone. The detectives refused, took her cell phone and handcuffed her behind her back. Then they walked her through the store to Rich's detention room.

Rich's female director of loss prevention patted down Jackson. One of the detectives handcuffed her to a metal bar. Jackson started to cry and again asked to call the police. She also asked to call her husband. She was denied both requests. Instead, a detective read her a form that stated she was guilty of shoplifting and was banned from Rich's.

Jackson was detained 10-15 minutes before a detective finally matched her receipt with the items in her Rich's bag. She then was told she wasn't guilty and was free to go. The store manager said she could have a discount on the merchandise she bought.

The department store is clearly wrong, punitive damages are another matter but $1.2 in compensatory is over the top. We're talking fifteen minutes not fifteen years.

The $4.8 million in the title is what the compensatory comes out to adjusted for a full hour. All that for handcuffs and being detained. Where can TFM sign up? (Time for sarcastic laughter)

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