Consequences for a School Teacher Arrested for Shoplifting

My question involves criminal law for the state of: MA

My 26 y o daughter shoplifted at Target and was detained. She got a ticket, police were called and she has court date.

she has paid civil demand (500) for approx. 200 dollars worth of merchandise.

What will happen in court?

Will this go on her record? She is a teacher.

? Cori check

this is first offense, can she get this expunged?

Does she need lawyer in court or just plead guilty, pay up and put this behind her? I won't make excuses. Very stupid, she is remorseful.
I just want to know if it will affect her career and what judge will do.

Thank you

Why is it ALWAYS people in elementary/secondary education or those in school and majoring in those subjects? I'd swear that there's a distinct pattern.

There's about 1,000 threads about this if you look around. People will say "get a lawyer," and "plead not guilty." She can do those things. A lawyer might work out a plea deal for her. But she's going to plead guilty to some crime or be convicted at trial of shoplifting. Because of corporate policies for shoplifting detentions across the board, basically they will have what they need and then some to convict her. If she goes to trial she WILL lose.

But no matter what, with a criminal conviction she will likely lose her teaching license. Even if she gets it expunged, in most states teaching involves a government licensure and the appropriate people can still see an expunged charge and can revoke her license for it. Expunging a charge really only helps with the private sector, who are not then privy to that information.

I hope all the free s*** she got on previous occasions was worth it, because she gambled her career and lost. Just remember - the house always eventually wins - in casinos and elsewhere.

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Quoting lynngold

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Does she need lawyer in court or just plead guilty, pay up and put this behind her? I won't make excuses. Very stupid, she is remorseful.
I just want to know if it will affect her career and what judge will do.

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She needs a lawyer, and she needs the lawyer to ask about pretrial diversion. If she pleads guilty then she will have a criminal record which will likely be an issue in her career. $200 is a lot, the prosecutor will assume this is not the first time she has shop lifted.

If she is found (or pleads) guilty, then depending on what she is charged with she cannot get it expunged for a minimum of five years and possibly ten. Under MA law she'll be undergoing at least one CORI check in that timeframe and depending on when her last one was, possibly two. And that's if she's eligible for expungement in only five years.

OF COURSE it will go on her record. What possibly made you think it would not?

If she is going to have a prayer of keeping her job and her license, she needs a lawyer yesterday. "Pleading guilty and putting it behind her" is the worst thing she can do for her career.

Like DD, I hope the stuff she stole was worth it because she has seriously screwed up the rest of her life.

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Quoting lynngold

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I just want to know if it will affect her career

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Badly.

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Quoting lynngold

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and what judge will do.

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Convict and sentence her.

And by all means, get a lawyer and see what can be worked out but I doubt the lawyer will be able to do much. In most places, school teachers cannot have a criminal record - period. So even some plea-bargain that gets the charge down to some sort of "unauthorized use of property," or "disorderly conduct" probably won't let her keep her job.

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Quoting DeputyDog

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And by all means, get a lawyer and see what can be worked out but I doubt the lawyer will be able to do much.

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You don’t know that. In particular, we don’t have the facts of the case against the daughter here. Loss prevention and the cops don’t always get things right. Conviction is not guaranteed in every case. A lot here will depend on the exact evidence they have against her and the prosecution policies of the prosecutor in the county where this took place. A good lawyer can make a significant difference in outcome.

It’s true that a criminal conviction can impact her career. But it is not the case in any place I’ve been that a teacher will lose his/her license for a criminal conviction no matter how minor it is. After all, traffic tickets in most states are treated as criminal matters and teachers don’t lose their licenses over those, right? So even a plea down to something lesser may indeed save her license and her job. The details always matter.

The poster is in my state and I know something about the process since both my husband and I are involved in education to a certain degree. All elementary and secondary teachers and anyone who works in a K-12 school in ANY capacity have to undergo a CORI check once every three years. MA is incredibly protective and while it is not a sure thing that someone who is found to have a shoplifting charge will lose their job and/or their license, the odds are in favor of at least losing the job, and it will be next door to impossible to find another one.

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Quoting cbg

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MA is incredibly protective and while it is not a sure thing that someone who is found to have a shoplifting charge will lose their job and/or their license, the odds are in favor of at least losing the job, and it will be next door to impossible to find another one.

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That would not suprise me. If, however, the defendant can get an outcome that avoids a conviction for shoplifting, either some kind of deferred prosecution program or some lesser offense that is not a crime of moral turpitude, that might significantly increase the chances of keeping her license and job. It’s one reason why having a lawyer assisting her could be very worthwhile.

And why I told her to get one.