Pool

Do the facts presented to the jury below support a finding of negligence against defendant Safeway Stores, Inc. (Safeway) for the harm it caused when, as part of its campaign to detect counterfeit currency, it *1056 reported to the police an erroneous and unsupported suspicion that a customer was tendering a counterfeit bill?

Does the trial court’s error in instructing the jury on the issue of reasonable cause to arrest require reversal of the general verdict against defendant City of Oakland (Oakland)?

I.

On the afternoon of May 1,1977, plaintiff George Lloyd Pool was arrested at a Safeway supermarket after tendering a $100 bill that did not bear the phrase “In God We Trust.” The Safeway employee, believing the bill might be counterfeit, summoned the Oakland Police Department. The police eventually arrested Pool and held him in jail overnight. Mr. Pool’s bill was not counterfeit, nor was he attempting to defraud Safeway.

The events leading to Pool’s arrest occurred as follows.

In the week preceding the incident, Pool had cashed a paycheck at a local Wells Fargo bank. The bank issued him a few small bills and fifteen $100 bills. At least one of these $100 bills was…

I concur in the judgment, but wish to make clear my understanding of the narrow basis of the majority opinion’s holding with respect to the liability of Safeway. As I read the opinion, the majority does not purport to hold that under general principles of California law a store *1074 owner—or, for that matter, any other private individual—may ordinarily be held liable in tort for simply reporting suspected misconduct to the police. In recognition of the strong public policy in favor of encouraging citizens to report such suspicions to the police—thereby permitting the police to determine whether further action is justified—past California cases have in effect held that such conduct is “conditionally privileged,” so that even if an individual is negligent in concluding that a crime has actually occurred or in identifying the perpetrator, he will incur no liability for simply reporting his suspicions so long as he is acting in good faith. (See, e.g., Peterson v. Robinson (1954) 43 Cal.2d 690, 695 [ 277 P.2d 19 ]; Turner v. Mellon (1953) 41 Cal.2d 45, 48-49 [ 257 P.2d 15 ]; Hughes v. Oreb (1951) 36 Cal.2d 854, 859 [ 228 P.2d 550 ]; Gogue v. McDonald (1950) 35 Cal.2d 482, 484-487 […

Do the facts presented to the jury below support a finding of negligence against defendant Safeway Stores, Inc. (Safeway) for the harm it caused when, as part of its campaign to detect counterfeit currency, it reported to the police an erroneous and unsupported suspicion that a customer was tendering a counterfeit bill?

Does the trial court's error in instructing the jury on the issue of reasonable cause to arrest require reversal of the general verdict against defendant City of Oakland (Oakland)?

On the afternoon of May 1, 1977, plaintiff George Lloyd Pool was arrested at a Safeway supermarket after tendering a $100 bill that did not bear the phrase "In God We Trust." The Safeway employee, believing the bill might be counterfeit, summoned the Oakland Police Department. The police eventually arrested Pool and held him in jail overnight. Mr. Pool's bill was not counterfeit, nor was he attempting to defraud Safeway.

The events leading to Pool's arrest occurred as follows.

In the week preceding the incident, Pool had cashed a paycheck at a local Wells Fargo bank. The bank issued him a few small bills and fifteen $100 bills. At least one of these $100 bills…