Posted on 02/19/2012 6:43:02 PM PST by rawhide
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. A 23-year-old college student from New Mexico is scheduled to go to trial for allegedly stealing a small pumpkin worth two dollars.
KOAT-TV in Albuquerque, N.M., reports that Lauren Medina will go before a jury and Moriarity Magistrate Judge Steve Jones on Tuesday. She is accused of taking the pumpkin in October 2011 from McCall's Pumpkin Patch in Moriarty.
Her sister, Annette Atencio, says Medina spent $75 on food that day but forgot to pay for the pumpkin she picked up as she was leaving. Atencio says her sister offered to pay but was refused and then handcuffed.
Atencio says she's in disbelief that the theft charge against her sister was not dropped.
She says her sister could have pleaded guilty and be given probation, but refused
http://mccallpumpkinpatch.com/schedule-admission/ says several things about pumpkins. First, you pay just this side of $10 a head to enter ~ so it’s a controlled entry and exit. Secondly it notes that WEEKEND admission does not include the price of a pumpkin. What that means is that WEEKDAY admission does include the price of a pumpkin, and that whether it was a weekday or weekend no one goes in or out without going through the “gate” (a legal term meaning almost anything you want, but it does imply a zone of control).
It’s obviously not a money thing. Either the little pumpkins are given away or not. I don’t know. If I were there and didn’t know I would ask before taking. Was it unintentional? I doubt if we know all the facts.
Weekdays it is not open to the public according to the website link you gave.
“Your group will be given a hayride out to the Pumpkin Patch where everyone gets to pick their own pumpkin.” That’s at http://mccallpumpkinpatch.com/teachers/ Still looking for any sign of a $2 price for those pumpkins ~ just isn’t there.
So she was there with a group on a weekday? I guess I gotbthevfacts wrong. Sorry.
I too have THOROUGHLY reviewed all the evidence in this case and DECREE the GIRLS are NOT GUILTY and the PUMPKIN should be incarcerated for a minimum of 1 year.
The stories we have don't have basic information about whether or not the pumpkins were for sale, or included in the price of admission, or exactly where this pumpkin was. I'm assuming it was out in the parking lot ~ odds are good that many mommies and daddies make little snoogums leave the dirty old pumpkin there!
But there's no doubt from the company's website that their primary purpose is not selling pumpkins ~ they sell entertainment and give pumpkins away!
It's not like they were in danger of running out of them given the pictures.
http://www.krqe.com/dpp/news/crime/alleged-pumpkin-caper-goes-to-court ~ latest story ~ woman was there October 28, 2011 ~ at night. That’s a weekday. Pumpkins are included in the admission price on Friday, so they weren’t for sale. The only question remaining is whether or not she actually paid entry earlier (which closes at 4 PM). The shoplifting charge is being lodged by a cop ~ not the merchant. Hmm?! Bet her lawyer uses the website for a defense!
Apparently he didn't want to be bothered by a defense based on facts.
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