Re: What's the Punishment for a Second Time Shoplifting Offense
Mrg1234: after you speak to your lawyer will you please come back and let us know how it went? This happened to me as well on Monday but my first offense and I was hysterical as well. Only my husband knows because he had to come get me, of course, and it was an hour from where we live. But I'm ashamed of myself. My husband has been very supportive of me knowing this is extremely not like me. I have felt a little more calm after researching non stop. Here's something I did... I called some lawyers all of which I haven't even been able to speak to yet they are all supposed to "call back" I have money to pay for them. I actually have a phone consult with one on Tuesday so I'm looking forward to that. So I looked up the county website in which I was arrested and checked on their court case records and searched by the lawyers name to see results on their cases. I found that they all had very successfully helped people in my situation avoid jail time. (Which is my main concern since I have 2 small children that I am a stay at home mother for and we live no where near family or friends and my husband has to work to provide for us. I don't work because quite frankly I would be working just to pay for day care because it is outrageous here.) So I looked up the lawyers case results and what I found here in the county I was arrested in (which I've heard is one of the strictest counties in Texas) is that most first time offenders got deferred adjudication... probation and community service and a fine. Some were lucky to have it dismissed but in my case the amount was $375 and I feel like that is probably too high to be dismissed. Second time offenders I noticed a lot of them were offered probation and community service and a fine but I noticed some that had 30 days in jail. I don't know if they were offered that or not but they had plead guilty. (And most had more than two offenses) also, I think some people here in this county prefer to take the jail time over probation considering it's shorter. (Not me!) I, too, have been beating myself at why I did this. Honestly, I've been stressed about Christmas for my children and what I took was Christmas presents for my children. I made a big mistake and I'm paying for it. I've been completely sick and my court date isn't until the very end of febuary... I have almost 3 months to feel sick. I can assure you I am completely embarrassed and sorry and I will never do that again in my life. But anyways... You should try looking up lawyers results of what you were charged with...it really helps give you an idea of what to expect. It is all public information and if you see something similar to yours go back and check the persons previous records and you can see if this is their first offense and so on.
Re: What's the Punishment for a Second Time Shoplifting Offense
Thanks so much for your response! Sounds like you got good news. I spoke with my lawyer Friday and I feel so much better. Despite what the people here say, I do believe sometimes good people do make poor decisions. I being one of them. My attorney however told me that since the dollar amount of mine was on the high side that I probably won't get a pre-trial diversion but he told me he will have no problem getting me deferred adjudication since my records clean and my first offense. He said I'll get 15 months probation and probably about a $200 fine. But said as long as I do good he can more than likely get me off probation at 7 months. He told me would be able to help me get it off my record but after reading all these forums I feel like that isn't possible considering my state and a class b misdemeanor but he's the attorney not me or anyone on here that I've seen. So I guess he knows something he can do. He's been doing it for 21 years. I know most people don't believe others are sorry when they do something like this .. I probably wouldn't have in the past and mine truly was an idiotic idea I had that I regret and can't stop thinking about why I did it. I'm so ashamed and embarrassed. We have been having financial issues and I wanted to get some things for my kids so that they would be happy on Christmas. (The things I attempted to take were children's items) They were small toys/clothes and I honestly don't even know how the total added up to be what it was that the store said ($375). Honestly, I am just going to ignore any judgement anyone passes on me. I've already prayed for forgiveness and will be paying for my actions. I feel like I should take my experience of this to teach others to never do this and make that mistake but who listens? I obviously didn't.
I hope you are feeling confident and have some peace of mind. Don't do it again :)
Re: Any Info on Possible Outcome of Second Shoplifting Offense