In any action brought by reason of having been delayed by a merchant or merchant's employee or agent on or near the premises of a mercantile establishment for the purpose of investigation concerning the ownership of any merchandise, it shall be a defense to such action if: (1) The person was delayed in a reasonable manner and for a reasonable time to permit such investigation, and (2) reasonable cause existed to believe that the person delayed had committed the crime of shoplifting.
S.C. Code Ann. § 16-13-140
Defense to action for delay to investigate ownership of merchandise
Applied in 4 court decisions — leading case Lynch v. Toys" R" Us-Delaware, Inc. (2007)
Most recently applied in Lynch v. Toys" R" Us-Delaware, Inc. (November 2007)
1962 Code SECTION 16-359.4; 1965 (54) 537.
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
Official source: South Carolina Legislature. Reproduced from public-domain South Carolina statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.