State v. Hampton

On January 9, 1970 the defendant was charged in a criminal complaint brought by the Warwick Police Department with stealing from one of the state’s largest discount houses a pair of pinking shears having a retail value of $7.49. Stripped of its verbiage the complaint charges the defendant with being a shoplifter. The complaint was signed and sworn to by a member of the police department. The warrant for the defendant was issued by a justice of the District Court. When the case came to trial in that court, the defendant, through his counsel; admitted that there was sufficient evidence to…