I'm not defending the thievery, by any means. It takes a special kind of mindlessness to miss that many groceries in the bottom of the cart.
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He basically saying it was an accident. " Do I simply show up on the court date and explain my innocence, or will I likely just be met with the same hostility and presumption of guilt I got at Walmart? " (No he can't just simply go and explain his innocence,then the charges get dropped. I meant with a lawyer maybe that could happen.
he asked if he should explain his innocence.
Ok, let's parse that a bit.
innocence:
first, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt he is speaking to legal conclusions and not the fact he lives in his mothers basement and is shaking with excitement that there are people working on a sexual surrogate robot.
so, when a person says; explain my innocence; does that mean they are first making a claim they are innocent or simply they are going to explain how innocence relates to themselves? When I say to somebody; let me explain my ability to make a diamond by squeezing a lump of coal.Quote:
c: freedom from legal guilt of a particular crime or offense
well, it's real simple; I can't. So, by explaining one's innocence, the discussion could simply be; I'm not.
If one is innocent, they almost without exception will make that claim. He related nothing regarding claiming such while detained. He made no argument as to how or why the items were (supposedly) overlooked.
the fact is without question he is guilty of the charge. That means he is guilty. He may be guilty with an explanation but when you attempt to leave a store without paying for merchandise, it is by definition
Quote:
MS Code § 97-23-93 (2013)
(1) Any person who shall wilfully and unlawfully take possession of any merchandise owned or held by and offered or displayed for sale by any merchant, store or other mercantile establishment with the intention and purpose of converting such merchandise to his own use without paying the merchant's stated price therefor shall be guilty of the crime of shoplifting and, upon conviction, shall be punished as is provided in this section.
(2) The requisite intention to convert merchandise without paying the merchant's stated price for the merchandise is presumed, and shall be prima facie evidence thereof, when such person, alone or in concert with another person, willfully:
(a) Conceals the unpurchased merchandise;
(b) Removes or causes the removal of unpurchased merchandise from a store or other mercantile establishment;
(c) Alters, transfers or removes any price-marking, any other marking which aids in determining value affixed to the unpurchased merchandise, or any tag or device used in electronic surveillance of unpurchased merchandise;
(d) Transfers the unpurchased merchandise from one container to another; or
(e) Causes the cash register or other sales recording device to reflect less than the merchant's stated price for the unpurchased merchandise.
(3) Evidence of stated price or ownership of merchandise may include, but is not limited to:
(a) The actual merchandise or the container which held the merchandise alleged to have been shoplifted; or
(b) The content of the price tag or marking from such merchandise; or
(c) Properly identified photographs of such merchandise.
(4) Any merchant or his agent or employee may testify at
a trial as to the stated price or ownership of merchandise.
(5) A person convicted of shoplifting merchandise for which the merchant's stated price is less than or equal to Five Hundred Dollars ($ 500.00) shall be punished as follows:
(a) Upon a first shoplifting conviction the defendant shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and fined not more than One Thousand Dollars ($ 1,000.00), or punished by imprisonment not to exceed six (6) months, or by both such fine and imprisonment.
(b) Upon a second shoplifting conviction the defendant shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and fined not more than One Thousand Dollars ($ 1,000.00) or punished by imprisonment not to exceed six (6) months, or by both such fine and imprisonment.
(6) Upon a third or subsequent shoplifting conviction the defendant shall be guilty of a felony and fined not more than Five Thousand Dollars ($ 5,000.00), or imprisoned for a term not exceeding five (5) years, or by both such fine and imprisonment.
(7) A person convicted of shoplifting merchandise for which the merchant's stated price exceeds Five Hundred Dollars ($ 500.00) shall be guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, punished as provided in Section 97-17-41 for the offense of grand larceny.
(8) In determining the number of prior shoplifting convictions for purposes of imposing punishment under this section, the court shall disregard all such convictions occurring more than seven (7) years prior to the shoplifting offense in question.
(9) For the purpose of determining the gravity of the offense under subsection (7) of this section, the prosecutor may aggregate the value of merchandise shoplifted from three (3) or more separate mercantile establishments within the same legal jurisdiction over a period of thirty (30) or fewer days.
When I first started using those scanners I had enough trouble with them that I just do not use them at all anymore.