Magnets Attract Higher Sentence

Posted Thursday, October 20, 2016 by Andrew Charles Huff

Can regular household items be turned into tools useful to defeat a security system? This was the question recently considered by Washington Appellate Court- Division Three in the case of State of Washington v. Casey Wade.

Mr. Wade challenges his conviction for third degree retail theft, contending the magnets and key used to defeat Wal-Mart’s security devices did not constitute a device designed to defeat a security system.

Wade was arrested for shoplifting from a Wal-Mart store after magnets were discovered allowing him to open the security cases protecting video games. This led the prosecutor to allege special circumstances because the magnets were considered an “item, article, implement, or device designed to overcome security systems.”

Mr. Wade argued that these magnets were simply a common item and not specifically made to defeat security devices. Further, he claimed that magnets such as these have many other uses other than to open secured cases, and therefore is not an “item, article, implement, or device designed to overcome security systems.”

However, the court found that Mr. Wade had 35 magnets and arranged them strategically along the security box, making it easy to open the locked box. In other words, sufficient evidence that even household items can turned into such a tool.