Minor Caught Committing Retail Theft

I am not attempting to change an answer. Mine was what I intended it to be from the moment I posted it. I am simply attempting to clarify it such that a person that apparently has no real understanding of the subject of the conversation might begin to understand what I said originally.

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Please, quit jumping around and being ignorant. And, as I said in my original post, pleading 'No Contest' cannot be used against you in a civil lawsuit, but I was only specifically talking about civil lawsuits itself. I didn't say I was excluding criminal cases as well.

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so go back and read what I posted. It started out with:

(paraphrased): such a plea cannot be used against you in any court.

I'm not understanding what your point is. Do you want me to limit the information provided to only what you see in your little world or do you think you would benefit from understanding how the issue applies in the larger sense?

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If I am so wrong, could you please go to your local DA or SAS and do an interview for me? Different states could define the word 'no contest' differently because every state has slightly different to extremely different laws (for example: some states don't have a death penalty whereas others do). I'm pretty sure you are the wrong one, but again, state laws define crimes differently.

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I'm pretty sure I am right but apparently you are not capable of understanding what I am trying to tell you and I am not inclined to spend any more time trying.

You take care and stay out of trouble such as whatever it may have been that led you here looking for answers

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Quoting jk

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I am not attempting to change an answer. Mine was what I intended it to be from the moment I posted it. I am simply attempting to clarify it such that a person that apparently has no real understanding of the subject of the conversation might begin to understand what I said originally.

so go back and read what I posted. It started out with:

(paraphrased): such a plea cannot be used against you in any court.

I'm not understanding what your point is. Do you want me to limit the information provided to only what you see in your little world or do you think you would benefit from understanding how the issue applies in the larger sense?


I'm pretty sure I am right but apparently you are not capable of understanding what I am trying to tell you and I am not inclined to spend any more time trying.

You take care and stay out of trouble such as whatever it may have been that led you here looking for answers

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I'm done trying to prove a point in which seems to continue on everlastingly. OP, from now on, follow " jk's " advice and hopefully that will lead you out of legal trouble and back into reality. "My little world?" or do you mean, your little world? I'm basing my answers on general advice (general, because each state has different laws and regulations as I previously stated).

And, I believe you aren't capable of what I'm trying to tell YOU. You seem to be consistently extending my answers into an even more broader point of view, but that isn't questionable at this point of time.

I came here for the same advice similar to the OP's. But, unfortunately, answers on this forum seem to be biased and only focused on one thing, bash the OP and anybody who supports him. I clearly understand that now.

OP, as a general statement, take advice from a local lawyer and don't take any advice from any online forums claiming to give "free legal advice."

Take care.

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JasonAe;760209]I'm done trying to prove a point in which seems to continue on everlastingly. OP, from now on, follow " jk's " advice and hopefully that will lead you out of legal trouble and back into reality. "My little world?" or do you mean, your little world? I'm basing my answers on general advice (general, because each state has different laws and regulations as I previously stated).

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we were beyond advice for the OP and discussing legal principles and theory. Maybe that is why you were having such trouble.

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And, I believe you aren't capable of what I'm trying to tell YOU. You seem to be consistently extending my answers into an even more broader point of view, but that isn't questionable at this point of time.

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I understand what you are trying to tell me completely. I am either correcting you when you are wrong or trying to explain why your limited answer may not be applicable to all situations (which, btw, you are the one that posted your statements as having a blanket application rather than addressing specifically the OP's issue).

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I came here for the same advice similar to the OP's. But, unfortunately, answers on this forum seem to be biased and only focused on one thing, bash the OP and anybody who supports him. I clearly understand that now.

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I guess your teachers at school are bashing you as well when they mark one of your test answers incorrect. Sorry dude but that's life. You can either learn from it or go on thinking everybody else is wrong and you are right. I know which one gets you further in life if you want to know.

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OP, as a general statement, take advice from a local lawyer and don't take any advice from any online forums claiming to give "free legal advice."

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but yet you were tossing out all sorts of "free legal advice" that I presume you intended for the OP to take, right? Gee, a bit hypocritical maybe?

It's not my fault you got all butt hurt because somebody corrected you. If that is your normal attitude in life, once you are old enough to go to college and then enter the real world, I suggest you buy a very large soft pillow because you are going to be so butt hurt you will never be able to sit down.

jk, if I'm old enough to afford a lawyer and continue my 2nd year into graduate school, I'm pretty sure I'm old enough. And, how were you correcting me? All the points I made before were mainly towards OP's situation, AND NOT ALL APPLICABLE SITUATIONS; of course, you can't just have one magical solution to all your problems in this world. I wasn't being hypocritical, I originally told him not to follow advice from an online forum and to consult with a local lawyer, but you probably didn't notice, obviously. I also stated that my advice was to be taken generally meaning that it wouldn't apply towards every state in the United States.

And, for your information, I'm fine with being corrected and having somebody oppose me for the points that I make, but unfortunately you're assuming that I'm either "butt hurt" from it, or that I am too young to understand the legal world.

I so do love online arguments, don't you, too?

I got the same letter from Palmer, Reifler and Associates and the letters stopped coming. Many attorneys advised me not to pay and it has been a year since I got my last letter. Back then I had a lawyer and was told not to pay the civil demands and I didn't get taken to small claims court and my credit was unaffected since then. Jason, did anything happen? The statutes of limitations for me has ran out according to my lawyer.

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Quoting Sam4

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I got the same letter from Palmer, Reifler and Associates and the letters stopped coming. Many attorneys advised me not to pay and it has been a year since I got my last letter. Back then I had a lawyer and was told not to pay the civil demands and I didn't get taken to small claims court and my credit was unaffected since then. Jason, did anything happen? The statutes of limitations for me has ran out according to my lawyer.

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Nothing.

Here, read this online article posted on ABC news that talks about Palmer, Reifler & Associates and it also refers to other collection firms as well: http://abcnews.go.com/Business/home-...ry?id=20201531

Remember, this demand is not a debt, only a "demand." If you were to pay restitution and investigation costs to the store it WOULD BE THROUGH the Judge or District Attorney themselves, NOT a collection firm. Many retail stores partner up with out-of-state collection firms nowadays because they get 10-50x as much money compared to actually asking the Judge/DA for restitution payments.

This is not legal advice, and only general advice. If you're looking for specific answers, talk with a local attorney... or talk with the lawyer you hired in the past. Hope I helped. :)

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In addition:

I have seen some cases where the Judge/DA dismissed the theft charge because the person committing the theft showed them the civil demand letter. I was in the public court sessions when this happened, and yes, EVERYONE who was accused of committing petty theft had this letter and many of them had their charges dismissed. The only people who didn't get their charges dismissed were the people who had multiple theft violations, but the civil demand letter is in no way a legal debt.

Also, do note, paying the civil demand is a guarantee that your name will be listed in the National Retail Theft Database. This is one of the prerequisites needed to have proof that you are indeed a thief. Yes, even non-theives are put into this database because of being falsely accused of retail theft and payed the demand out of fear.

I hope you learned your lesson about shoplifting and I do hope that you think twice before committing any action that may potentially violate legal laws.

Have a good life. :)

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Sam, I also wanted to add something else so that people will know and take action against these firms.

This is extremely unfair against parents of normal teenagers and teenagers themselves who do idiotic things everyday. There was a recent FBI investigation that stated that 30% of all the store's losses were from shoplifters browsing through the store. But, 70% of all those thefts were internal, meaning that employee theft and management theft summed up most of those losses. Why make a teenager who has no current job/a low-paying job pay $400 for a silly $5-10 item? This is why most of these firms don't sue, they know that they'll be meeting an angry Judge and that collecting from someone with a low-paying job would be extremely difficult. Many of these teenagers don't even have a credit report anyways, and... disputing a non-debt is fairly an easy thing to do; mainly because even if the collection firms put it on the teenager's credit as a debt owed, IT'S JUST PLAIN ISN'T!

I was contemplating whether or not to file a complaint against Palmer and Reifler by sending in a letter to the Florida Bar, but seeing that many people have already filed their complaints, I'll leave mine until necessary.

Sam, your SOL has already expired. No worries, my friend.