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Bell v. State

The trial court did not err in allowing a store security agent to testify regarding his personal knowledge of the price of each stolen item.

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A Gwinnett County jury found Eddie Cobb Bell guilty of felony theft by shoplifting. On appeal, Bell claims that the trial court erred in allowing hearsay testimony as to the value of the goods taken. He also claims the evidence was insufficient to support the verdict. We disagree and affirm. Viewed in a light most favorable to support the verdict, the evidence shows that a security camera at a J. C. Penney store recorded Bell removing items from hangers, kicking them under the racks, and putting the merchandise in a bag he pulled out of his pocket. Bell left the store without paying for the items. Two J. C. Penney security agents confronted Bell after he left the store. Bell refused to come back in the store and then fled, leaving the bag of merchandise behind. Police caught Bell and brought him back to the store for identification by the security agents.

Nick Clark, one of the security agents, took an inventory of the stolen property and prepared a report as he did in every shoplifting incident. He identified each item that was taken and listed the item and the price of that item on a written report. Clark determined the price of each item by asking a sales associate to “ring it up” on the cash register and contemporaneously recorded the price on the report. According to Clark, Bell stole four jackets, a pair of pants, and three shirts, and the total retail price of the merchandise was $675.66. Although Bell contends that there is evidence that J. C. Penney was running a sale on the day of the theft, Clark testified that he was unaware of the sale and that if an item was on sale, it would be reflected by the cash register.

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