First Time Shoplifting in Arizona

My question involves criminal law for the state of: AZ

I feel very sorry about my 40$ shoplifting incident in phoenix Target. I was stopped and police was called, gave me ticket. no fingerprint or arrest.
Police gave me a court date, i went to court. And judge said that this case can not be solved in today's appearance. First appearance was to make me aware about what charges are filled against me, and what could be maximum penalty for this. And they set me for "not guilty today" and gave a new date after a month for what they call "pre-trial"

I am wondering what to do for pre-trial date. Judge also mentioned today that since it is your first offense there will be no jail time. But since you are on work visa you might be asked for immediate deportation or your future citizenship application may be revoked.

I am so scared right now, and cannot sleep nights. Can you guys please reply what could happen at pre-trail. I know that I did wrong thing, should I plea guilty on pre-trial or go for trial? I wondered because if I go for trial, Target must have camera recordings right? Any good criminal/immigration lawyers in AZ will be highly appreciated. Any website that can help to find one?

Btw, If prosecutor offer diversion program in our pre-trial appointment, does that mean you are charged as guilty for this case?

Has anybody gone through this in AZ, Please share with me.
Thanks.

What you do is get a lawyer. If you are indigent and can't afford one, you should have inquired at the arraignment (which is what you had before). I'd investigate getting one before the preliminary hearing. No, diversions don't generally count as convictions (provide you meet the requirements). However, that may still not mean anything to the CIS with regard to deciding to deport you.

We don't recommend lawyers here. There are referal sites advertising on this site and you can call up the county bar association and they may have a list of referrals.
Otherwise, there's a big yellow book there under the phone that probably has 100 pages of lawyer listings.

You need a Criminal Defense Lawyer.

Diversion program will lessen the charge, but can still cost you the Visa.

thanks flyingron and pandorabox. Replies on this board are helping a lot to understand legal terms and system. I am wondering if I can talk on my behalf (without hiring a lawyer) to prosecutor at Pre-trial meeting. Are we allowed to do so?

I was told at arraignment that I will most likely not get public defendant since it is my first offense. So I meant to ask, is there any legal requirement to have lawyer to talk on your behalf?

Can I talk to prosecutor that I am graduate in engineering, doing a fulltime job for about 3 years, have family, never committed any crime in 28 years of life & never will and other good things which can be helpful to convince prosecutor to offer diversion program over plea-guilty?

Can somebody please reply my questions? My pre-trial is coming soon, and have no idea if I need a lawyer or I can talk on my behalf? If I can, how should I convince prosecutor that this will never ever happen again?

Hi, we are volunteers here, and do have lives, so we often can't respond immediately.

You should get a lawyer.

As for talking on your own behalf, it's not a good idea. If you needed surgery, would you do it yourself, or turn to an experienced surgeon?

The prosecutor is not your lawyer. It is their job to gain a conviction and put you behind bars. He reason you may not get a PD is because low dollar theft cases generally do not carry jail time. You can still however get a theft conviction which is very,very bad.

Call the public defenders office. Sometimes they have a list of reduced fee lawyers or a list of lawyers who take on cases like these.

Good luck and like the above poster said, with your lack of knowledge of the legal system (you posted a question here), are you sure you want to navigate the courts yourself?

Can you tell us what happened as a result? How it's your visa situation