Can You be Charged With Shoplifting a Year After the Incident

A woman was caught shoplifting a year ago, and was taken into an office by the LPs. They recovered the items she was trying to steal, and took her name, address, and personal information. They told her that they were not calling the police and that she would receive a civil demand in the mail. She paid the civil demand. She's still worried, a year later, that she could be charged with shoplifting. Could she still face charges, in Massachusetts?

The odds of being charged if the LPs say you're not going to be charged are extremely small, vanishingly small if you pay the civil demand. The statute of limitations for misdemeanors in Massachusetts is six years, so it's not technically impossible, but realistically speaking it's not going to happen.