Representation for Shoplifting in Colorado, Less Than $300

[ScaredSilly]

I am being accused of shoplifting in Colorado, my first appearance is in a small municipal court that gets a lot of similar cases because it has one of the states largest malls in it's jurisdiction. I have been struggling whether or not to hire a lawyer, I can afford it but it will make paying the court fees and civil demand quite difficult. I have heard often that the DA usually offers a deal to lessen the offense for first time offenders like myself. What should I do?

[LawResearcherMissy]

Hire the attorney.

With the help of an attorney, you may be able to enter a pre-trial diversion program that would keep the charge off your record.

[ScaredSilly]

I just came back from my court appearance and I wanted to share what happened for anyone else it may help. Let me first say that before my appearance I did A LOT of research on all possibilities. Let me also say that on this particular forum there are way too many people who have no experience, not a lawyer, but are simply people who have done research on the possible outcomes. In many cases a crime that I experienced has the maximum sentence of a $1,000 fine and/or 6 months jail; people see this and freak out and say, "HIRE AN LAWYER OR YOU MIGHT GO TO JAIL!". Let me say that I was never scared of going to jail, don't let people who don't know what they are talking about scare you. There was no lawyer I spoke to thinking that I would go to jail, even if I represented myself. It costs the state a serious amount of money to send people to jail, so unless you have a serious criminal record you probably won't go to jail. Every thread that I have seen on this site pretty much says you need to hire an attorney no matter what or you are toast; let me tell you to do your own homework first. This is what I did to prepare for my case:

Besides savaging the internet for any possible shred of wisdom that may be present, I contacted several lawyers to get consultations and quotes. The least expensive standard price I found was $1,000 or $200 an hour and paying for five hours up front (so $1,000), if the case went to trial it would go up at least another $1000. I called the municipal court that my case was at and also look on the court website to see the process. The process is after signing in you will meet with the City Attorney and he/she may give you a plea bargain, if you like any of the offers you accept one and plea guilty to the judge.

With the small bit of experience that I have had is what I suggest you do if you are charged with theft:
Dress nice and bring all paperwork you have that has to do with your case. Meet with the Court Attorney, IF HE/SHE DOES NOT GIVE YOU A BARGIN YOU CAN REQUEST A CONTINUANCE. Requesting a continuance and being represented by an attorney is your RIGHT as an American. If you do not get a deal that you like you tell them you are uncomfortable without representation and you would like to request a continuance so that you can schedule and come back another day; this gives you time to hire an attorney if you feel the need to.

If I had hired an attorney it would have done absolutely nothing for me what so ever. Your first court appearance is your arraignment, there is no major negotiating that goes on that gives an attorney the power to negotiate; that only happens if you go to trial (you should get a lawyer if you go to trial). Most places have restrictions on what cases can go to trial, one as minor as mine was not even available to be held in a trial. ALSO a case as minor as the one I had makes getting a Public Defender not an option, it has to be a serious case; as soon as I saw this I knew that hiring a lawyer would be a mistake. Remember that if you feel uncomfortable with the situation that you are given you can reschedule your appearance and hire an attorney; I believe this is true everywhere in the nation, contact the court ahead of time and ask to make sure.

What Happened in the end for me:
I talked to the City Attorney, she asked me my age (early twenties) and if I had any other previous offenses on my criminal record (no). She immediately gave me two options: 1-Plea guilty and pay $300 and have it on my record or 2- plea guilty to a diversion that included a one year probation period, 24 hours of community service, a petty theft class, a 300 word paper on what I learned in that class, and a $76 fee. Once your probation period is over you can petition and submit a request to get your records sealed so they do not show up to anyone besides law enforcement, so in essence it is off your record because no one except a court, police, ex. can see your offense; also they are required to say to anyone that it did not happen. Sealing your record is not super hard but it will be more expensive than my case was, it will be about $225 and can not be done until my year probation is up.

There are a lot of people who say that you need to get a lawyer to get a diversion and that they will keep it off your record, this is not likely. Like my diversion it will say on my record until my probation is up, then it will be dismissed and be able to be sealed. I have not heard of one person to get a magical diversion that automatically gets it off your record whether you get a lawyer or not, I have not heard or seen one person say this nor did any lawyer I meet with say it.

My Conclusion: Let me say I am not an expert. But compared to many of the people posting on sites like yahoo and this one I am because I have actually had experience with my case. If I had hired an attorney I would be out at least $1,076, but instead I am only had to pay $76.

Feel free to message me.

[antrc170]

The only thing that I'm not sure what you are referring to his your statement that there are restrictions about what cases can go to trial. All cases can go to trial. Jurisdictions have restrictions on when they'll issue a Public Defender because the court waives the jail time, so you don't qualify. However, when charged with any crime from a traffic offense to capital murder you as the accused have the right to a trial.

[ScaredSilly]

Yes. Thank you antrc170, I was writing this fast and I must have just said that. There was no restriction on my case going to trial at all. With that said, it was also recommended to me a couple times that I should go in there and plea not guilty because it may be easy to get the case dismissed immediately. You should not do this because it will probably not happen and even if it did the cost to hire an attorney and court fees would outweigh the cost of a diversion that will eventually lead to your case being dismissed after your probation.

[Security Consultant]

You may be able to get the case dismissed, but you have not written anything about your case for anyone to make that kind of judgment.

[Jenya81]

ScaredSilly....I am glad that things worked out for you.

So what you are saying is that option with option 2 you will still have a criminal record?
How is that different or better form option 1? Are you able to get your record sealed with option 1 as well?
Seems to me it would be better to just pay the $300 and no go through probation and classes?

I am in NY and as far as I know NY doesnt seal records

[ScaredSilly]

Initially I thought the same. If I chose only to pay the money and have it on my record, it would be just that: on my record. With the other choice, as long as I followed the diversion program the case would be dismissed. So my probation is a year long and after that I can seal it. If i did not take that diversion program I am not sure how easy it would be to get it off my record, I think more difficult or not at all. I asked the lady what would be easier to take off my record but she wouldn't say because it may be considered legal advise, people in that position cannot give you legal advise. I took the deal I did because having the case dismissed after a year sounds good to me, and that is when I am able to seal it. If it were not for that it would probably be much harder to seal.

For you I am sure there is some way to get it off your record, in Colorado it is just called sealing. Sealing is different from a record being expunged, maybe you can expunge it. I would just Google expunge or seal criminal record in New York, you should find something. Where I got the most solid idea of getting something off my record was meeting with an attorney for a free consultation and just asking him a bunch of questions.

[PandorasBox]

Expungement varies by state. Usually, it takes a certain number of years (7 in Michigan, for example), and you need a lawyer for the process.

[Jenya81]

What exactly is a diversion program? Is that classes?

And can you please talk about how you got caught a bit. Were the police called?