Am I Going to Jail for Shoplifting

My question involves criminal law for the state of: Maryland

I returned $497.00 worth of merchandise to Best Buy, but I was only caught stealing $197.00. The extra $300 worth, I returned hoping it would show the judge some sort of positive character on my part (knowing the financial consequences of doing so). I'm also on probation for a DUI I received a little over a year ago :(

How screwed am I? I have nothing else on my record, and am a full-time college student with a 4.0 GPA.

How badly is the DUI charge going to hurt me, and is there anything I can do before my court date that will help my case? (Other than getting a lawyer.)

If you think jail time is mandatory, how long would you guess I'll be there? Also, would there be any chance for house arrest?

Quote:

---

Quoting Horripilation

---

My question involves criminal law for the state of: Maryland

I returned $497.00 worth of merchandise to Best Buy, but I was only caught stealing $197.00. The extra $300 worth, I returned hoping it would show the judge some sort of positive character on my part (knowing the financial consequences of doing so). I'm also on probation for a DUI I received a little over a year ago :(

How screwed am I? I have nothing else on my record, and am a full-time college student with a 4.0 GPA.

How badly is the DUI charge going to hurt me, and is there anything I can do before my court date that will help my case? (Other than getting a lawyer.)

If you think jail time is mandatory, how long would you guess I'll be there? Also, would there be any chance for house arrest?

---

Quote:

---

and am a full-time college student with a 4.0 GPA.

---

I suspect the judge won't believe you since stealing is not a smart thing to do. It doesn't matter anyway. You do not get points for having a high GPA.

Quote:

---

How badly is the DUI charge going to hurt me, and is there anything I can do before my court date that will help my case? (Other than getting a lawyer.)

---

I suspect this is going to hurt your probation in that case more than the other way around.

Quote:

---

The extra $300 worth, I returned hoping it would show the judge some sort of positive character on my part (knowing the financial consequences of doing so)

---

so, do ya think that if I kidnapped 5 people and I was going to kill all of them but got caught after killing only 2 and told the cops where the others were tied up shows positive character? Not stealing at all shows positive character. Returning stolen merchandise shows you thought doing so might help reduce penalty for what you got caught stealing.



what is the actual specific charge?

I don't know what you mean by what the "actual specific charge" is. It's under $500 so it's 2nd tier larceny.

The penalty is $500 and/or 18 months.

(And sure, the $300 was an effort to reduce my penalty. I won't argue your semantics. Though your metaphor was fairly poor. It would more be like if I had kidnapped 7 people and they only knew about 3 of them, but I returned them all. Either way, it's a moot point.)

It depends how strict the po,judge and Da are,did your probation officer volatile you? With a lawyer you probably have a shot at extending your probation or some type of no jail plea,speak to a local lawyer who is familiar with the local da judges.

What area of md are you in? Some areas leave it up to the LP to charge you. Also a felony is $1000. Ask for a pbj and if you do not get it, ask for a continuance and get a lawyer.

Definitely worth your time to talk to a lawyer in this instance. It sounds like its not a felony but the DUI history obviously works against you.

PBJ when he's already on probation? Unlikely, he needs a lawyer from the git go.

Quote:

---

Quoting bam!

---

What area of md are you in? Some areas leave it up to the LP to charge you. Also a felony is $1000. Ask for a pbj and if you do not get it, ask for a continuance and get a lawyer.

---

I'm in Montgomery County. Sorry if it's a stupid question, but what does LP stand for?

Quote:

---

Quoting tc498

---

It depends how strict the po,judge and Da are,did your probation officer volatile you? With a lawyer you probably have a shot at extending your probation or some type of no jail plea,speak to a local lawyer who is familiar with the local da judges.

---

I don't check in to my probation officer until February. I'm set up on the kiosk so I never even interact with her.

So it seems pretty unanimous that a lawyer is needed. Unfortunately I don't quite have the funds for that at the moment. What are your collective thoughts on a public defender? That's what I had for my DUI, and it turned out alright, but is something like this not worth risking on them? It isn't a matter of defending my case as much as making a plea bargain, because I've already essentially admitted guilt.

If you cannot afford a lawyer, definitely ask for a PD. You have to qualify for one so, if you can afford your own, you likely won't qualify and vice versa (but they determine if you qualify or not).

A pd is just as much a lawyer as any other lawyer in the state. The biggest problem is they are often overworked so that means they do not have as much time to spend on a case as a private lawyer does.

So you have a 4.0 gpa? Then you're smart enough to know better than to shoplift.

It's not going to help you in court.