Caught Shoplifting, First Offense, No Prior Criminal Record

My question involves criminal law for the state of: New Jersey.
On 01/01/2015 I was caught shoplifting merchandise of a total of $33.50. I immediately cooperated with the LP and signed a paper stating I was banned from the store and another regarding the civil demand of $150 (which I have already paid in full when I received it in the mail). Unfortunately, the police were called and I was taken into the station where I had my fingerprints and picture taken. I was then let out with a court date for 01/20/2015 and no bail.

On 01/20/2015 I arrived at court which was my arraignment. I plead not guilty and asked for a public defender. I filled out the application and paid for the public defender in full at the violations desk. I was told that I would have another court date which is on 02/10/2015. I was told that when I arrive that day I must sign in with the violations clerk and I will be then be able to speak with my public defender.

At the arraignment, the LP was there. I spoke with him personally and informed him that I have already paid for the civil demand in full and apologized. I showed him a receipt as proof. He then said he will speak with the prosecutor/judge and ask if he would be able to drop the charges completely or have the charged lessened at the next court date.

I'm now extremely paranoid about this next court date. The last month has been hell and I want to just be able to put this behind me. From the many lawyers I have consulted with I am under the impression that jail time is unlikely because the merchandise stolen was under $200 and I have no prior offenses/criminal record. Also, I have been told that I am more likely of getting a lesser charge (like a disorderly persons charge) and will simply have to pay those fines plus court fees.

Are the chances of just paying a fine likely in my case? How much will that charge possibly be? & What are the chances of the case be dismissed since the store was willing to drop the charges? Do you think that the case will be solved on my next court date?

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Note it is NOT up to the victim whether you get prosecuted or not. He can certainly put in a good word for you, but it is the STATE that is harmed by your criminal activity and they are the ones prosecuting you NOT the store.

Jail time is unlikely. As for the rest it would depend on whether you are charged with the criminal version of theft or the disorderly persons version. At $33 you'd typically get charged with the DP.

You can be fined upwards of $1000 plus costs. If you're in superior court, you may avoid conviction via a PTI disposition. There is no such disposition in municipal court. You should discuss this with your attorney. There's a strong possibility that you may have to return again for sentencing or whatever subsequent to a pre-sentencing investigation being done. Jail is unlikely. You can also have been charged with robbery which would be very bad for you indeed.

There's not enough information in your story. Your best bet: talk to the attorney and nobody else.

Being that the amount of the stolen merchandise was under $200, this will be dealt with as a disorderly persons offense in the municipal court that the incident happened in.

First time and second time offenders for shoplifting will receive a fine of no more then $500. Third time, $1,000.

If a motor vehicle was used in the course of the offence, you can lose your drivers license for up to two years.

If you hold public office, a conviction may result in forfeiture of office.

Up to 10 days of community service.

Up to six months jail. Don't worry about jail, I can almost guaranty that you won't see it.

As you are already aware, you are liable for civil penalty as well as criminal punishment.

You're eligible for exspunment of the charge after waiting five years if you have no more then three DP charges or one indictable offence. There is no PTI for municipal court procedings. If it is at state level, then PTI can apply.

If LP from the store doesn't show for court, I'm sure the prosecutor will not dismiss the case. Try asking for a municipal ordinance. You pay a much higher fine, but gain no criminal record. If the prosecutor isn't willing to downgrade to a municipal ordinance, ask if you could plead to "receiving stolen property" (N.J.S.A. 2C:20-7). It is much easier to explain that you bought a stolen item that you weren't aware of then telling that you shoplifted on an employment application.

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One more thing, lets talk about intent. How many items didn't you pay for and how many items did you pay for on the same occasion?

Explain how you committed the act of shoplifting? Did you switch tags or left it at the bottom of the shopping cart?

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Quoting flyingron

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Note it is NOT up to the victim whether you get prosecuted or not. He can certainly put in a good word for you, but it is the STATE that is harmed by your criminal activity and they are the ones prosecuting you NOT the store.

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A note on this, just for clarity's sake: While what you are saying is true enough, the only time, at least around here, that the prosecutor would persist in prosecuting a case with an unwilling victim is in domestic violence cases/violence arising through relationships charges, because it's been well documented that survivors often try to get charges dropped against their own best interests.

In something like a shoplifting, if the store wants to drop the charges, they will probably be dropped. In fact, the LP staff of the store probably has a working relationship with the prosecutor and knows them well. If they asked it to be dropped it would be.

With that said - Why would they want to do that? I've never seen it happen.