Walmart, Dollar General lead retail theft cases being prosecuted by District Attorney

The District Attorney’s office is prosecuting an increase in retail theft in Selma and the 4^th Judicial District.

District Attorney Robert Turner Jr. told the Black Belt News Network that the main victim is Walmart with Dollar General having the second most cases.

With a backlog of cases dating back to 2017, Turner said he had to prioritize cases to tackle, with the top of the list being homicide cases, followed by attempted murder and sex cases. Then he slotted the importance of prosecuting retail theft.

Getting retail theft resolved is important, he said, “in order to allow people to feel safe from not just violent crime but our business owners need to feel safe as well.” 

When Turner took over as District Attorney of the 4th Judicial District in January 2023, he inherited a backlog of cases that had not gone to the grand jury, and his team has been working through the stacks steadily, he said.

Many of those were retail theft cases and “a lot of those cases were made, however they had not been indicted.”

In the US Judicial system, after a preliminary hearing, a felony case is bound over to a grand jury, which considers the evidence to determine if there is enough to formally charge the accused. If so, the accused is indicted. Turner said he is now convincing the grand jury on a regular and consistent basis.

The 4^th Judicial District represents Dallas, Perry, Wilcox, Bibb and Hale counties.