Filed Tuesday, June 09, 2026 by Stephanie Rice
Attorney Sophie Swedin won her first trial, a theft case in Clark County District Court.
Swedin was assisted by Owen Sutanto in the June 5, 2026, trial.
Her client was accused of returning items to a Walmart that he hadn’t purchased.
In March, a loss prevention officer at a Walmart on Northeast 192nd Avenue in Vancouver reported to a Vancouver police officer that the man had entered the store with nothing but a bag in his cart. After placed multiple things in his cart, he paid for some of them and then went to customer services to return others. He was credited for the returns before he was arrested; the store later cancelled the credit.
The man said he was returning items his wife had purchased and he’d had them in the bag in his cart when he entered the store.
At trial, prosecution witnesses could not prove that the man had not entered the store with the items and admitted nobody watched him the entire time he was in the store.
Theft in the third degree, a gross misdemeanor, is punishable by up to one year in jail.
It was a quick win for Swedin and Sutanto, as the six-member jury only needed 20 minutes to deliberate.
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