Scott v. Commonwealth

Indicted under Code §§ 18.1-126 and 18.1-126.1 1 during September, 1975, for “third offense unlawful concealment” of a grocery store item valued at seventy-nine cents, defendant Hattie M. Scott was convicted of this “shoplifting” charge following a bench trial and sentenced to confinement in the penitentiary for a term of one year and six months. The indictment alleged and the Commonwealth proved defendant had been convicted in April 1974 and June 1975 of unlawful concealment for violations of a Portsmouth city ordinance, the provisions of which were essentially identical to Code § 18.1-126.

Th…