Charges for Stealing a Gift Card

My question involves criminal law for the state of: Arizona

So I used to work for Walmart in Scottsdale, AZ where I took a gift card that was valued at $43.08. I have a court date on the 20th of January of this year. They are charging me under ARS. 13-1802 A.3. I have nver had an issue ever with the law and quite nervous about my court date. I was issued a citation ticket on December 29, 2016 to appear in court. I'm not sure to what to expect from going to this Arraignment Hearing.

During a meeting I had with management they told me to give a written statement to what I did and at no time did they state what their intentions were. They were going to fire me regardless. I feel that this was done intentionally on their side. They did call the police. He showed up took my identification and wrote me out a citation ticket for this. Same time he did read me my rights. Walmart during the interview I had never showed me any physical evidence of a video tape or printed screen shots of what I did.

So I'm needing some assistance before I go next week and what should I do, should I plea out guilty knowing its going to be a misdemeanor offense for the most part.

An arraignment hearing is where the court formally advises you of the charges against you and you enter your plea on those charges. In general, unless otherwise advised by your attorney, you ought to enter a plea of not guilty. The court might also set a bond at this hearing. Typically these hearings take just a few minutes. You’ll likely spend a lot more time just waiting around for your case to be called than you spend in the actual hearing. You probably ought to get an attorney to advise and represent you on this for the best outcome.

I appreciate that I know it was a ticket given to me and all, I honestly don't have the money to hire an attorney should I also hear to what the judge says if she or he asks if i want legal assistance