Do I Need a Lawyer to Appear with Me in Court

[freakapod]

State I live in: Wisconsin

ok so me and my friends were gonna pull a prank we were gonna put some items into a basket and leave it by the hidden hallway by the entrance where there was a little kids ride and silly string it, because theres a hidden hallway and we grab a bunch of ridiculous items like lipstick, chicken, and markers, we put the items in a bag because we forgot to grab the basket and while we were heading to entrance by the hidden hallway the security worker stopped us and accused us of shoplifting, we past the electronic security, but we DIDNT leave the store yet with the items because we werent shoplifting. But we got stopped before we could unload the items, i got charged with shoplifting because it was my bag, and so i can choose to apprear in court or pay the fine, the cop advised me to appear in court, but never mentioned a lawyer or anything to me, just to go to court to make a plea

so im wondering do i need a lawyer to apprear in court, or should i get one, i wasnt arrested or brought into custody, he said it something small so they were just gonna give me a ticket,

it never even appreared in my head that we were shoplifting, we just had to put the items in the bag because our silly string and toys we brought along didnt fit in my bag so we had some people waiting outside to bring some stuff in and we were just gonna silly string a ride with some items in it, it never even appreared in my head, i guess that was stupid

long story short, do i need a lawyer to apprear in court with me if i wasnt arrested, i know i can ask for a public defender, but dont they only ask if you need one the day of, i want to be prepared. Please help!

[cyjeff]

You do not need to leave a store to be successfully accused and convicted of shoplifting.

You need a lawyer.

Telling a court that you weren't going to steal the stuff but, instead, just ruin it (and some of the items would have definitely been ruined) will not be worth much.

[freakapod]

You do not need to leave a store to be successfully accused and convicted of shoplifting.

You need a lawyer.

Telling a court that you weren't going to steal the stuff but, instead, just ruin it (and some of the items would have definitely been ruined) will not be worth much.

but if you put back the items before leaving the store are you wouldnt be accused of shoplifting right? well thanks for the advice, yeah i figured it would be less, but to be honest its kind of stupid because we didnt want to get caught with vandalism so we put the items in a bag to cover it up too kind of stupid but thanks

other users u are free to continue with responses, i still want to know what everyone thinks

[cyjeff]

but if you put back the items before leaving the store are you wouldnt be accused of shoplifting right? well thanks for the advice, yeah i figured it would be less, but to be honest its kind of stupid because we didnt want to get caught with vandalism so we put the items in a bag to cover it up too kind of stupid but thanks

other users u are free to continue with responses, i still want to know what everyone thinks

The act of concealing the items about your person (as in, putting them into a bag) is enough to be accused and convicted.

To be honest, this was stupid on a vast number of levels.

[freakapod]

The act of concealing the items about your person (as in, putting them into a bag) is enough to be accused and convicted.

To be honest, this was stupid on a vast number of levels.

yeah i know, so far everyone in my family have said i dont need one because its really classified as petty theft because i only supposly stole 30 dollars worth of stuff?

i am more likely to get a public defender because i dont have money for a lawyer, how do i recieve one before my court date? i really dont want to have my court day dismissed till another day, i would prefer to deal with it but what do you think?

i really dont know terms, i know people mention diversion or something if i plea not guilty and get a public defender, but will happen if i do plea not guilty and this is my first offense, will the charges be dropped since its my first offense?

[KeyWestDan]

If you were not arrested, taken into custody and booked, you received a civil municipal ordinance violation. The only penalty is a fine. You do not have a legal right to a court appointed attorney assuming you are indigent because it is not a criminal offense.

If you want to have an attorney you need to hire one.

If found guilty you will also be subject to a civil theft penalty. This is separate from any fine you might get for the ordinance violation.

[usedbranflakes]

You're not an attorney; your family is not an attorney; and I am not an attorney but worked in the industry. At a minumum you need to appear in court and tell the judge that you do not have money for a lawyer, understand that only a lawyer can properly assist you with the case, and respectfully request that an attorney from the public defender's office be provided. A PD might be able to get you into a diversion plan where ajudication is deferred (the arrest shows but the conviction does not). This is HIGHLY dependent upon your standing within your school and community as well as the PDs standing with the judge and the ADA. Don't expect 5-star service from the PDs office as they are overworked. You will likely talk to them once before trial.

The $30 might not seem like much but that $30 could amount to $100,000-$1.2Million in lost opportunities and wages over your lifetime. Nearly every employer I have interviewed with performs a criminal history search; they used to be $100's of dollars but I can get one for about $20. Your criminal theft information is already in a private retail database, similar to a credit report. You can likely kiss a job in a major retail store goodbye but you can still get a job at McDonald's. The PD, or even a decent defense attorney charging $500, can likely prevent this damage.

In the state where I shared a LP office the state code read that concealment was needed. In most cases we did wait for the person to get out of the store before making the accusation. In some cases the person was a long-time customer and had simply forgotten an item; about 75% of the time we knew who they were and the other 25% of the time the store manager apologized for the misunderstanding and thanked them for their business. ...but 100% of the time, with underage kids and teens/20-somethings, they could guarantee they would get drug into the back and possibly handed over to the police. In 100% of those cases the persons detained were not able to get a job in the Mall and some of them lost their jobs once the employers found out about it.

Get a public defender assigned or talk to a defense attorney and cough up the $500-$1000 it will take for their time. ...but do not do this thing by yourself. There is a saying that an attorney who hires himself has a fool for a client. ...even attorneys know that they need an attorney!

...and wear a suit or a shirt and tie to court!!