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Wife Served Summons for Willful Concealment in New Hampshire

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  • 05-12-2020, 05:36 AM
    nyrangerslmb
    Wife Served Summons for Willful Concealment in New Hampshire
    My question involves criminal law for the state of: New Hampshire

    My wife was served a summons to appear in court for Willful Concealment RSA 637:3-a.1. According to the officer that served her there is a video of her committing this. I was told by a pre-law student that in some cases video can't be used to prove a case in NH. My question is, is this true, or is more evidence needed than just video?
  • 05-12-2020, 06:36 AM
    MiddlePart
    Re: Wife Served Summons for Willful Concealment in New Hampshire
    Whether a particular video can be used to prove a case would, I think, depend on what the video shows.
    It certainly seems possible and plausible that a video could have enough information in it to justify a conviction for willful concealment (aka shoplifting) without additional evidence being required.
  • 05-12-2020, 06:47 AM
    budwad
    Re: Wife Served Summons for Willful Concealment in New Hampshire
    In NH law willful concealment is not shoplifting. The difference is that in willful concealment the person does not have to leave the premises of the business. In shoplifting, the person must leave the premises (not just the sales area) with the goods.

    https://caselaw.findlaw.com/nh-supre...t/1529759.html

    What was the amount of the goods concealed? And what was the act of concealment?
  • 05-12-2020, 08:08 AM
    adjusterjack
    Re: Wife Served Summons for Willful Concealment in New Hampshire
    Quote:

    Quoting nyrangerslmb
    View Post
    My question involves criminal law for the state of: New Hampshire

    My wife was served a summons to appear in court for Willful Concealment RSA 637:3-a.1. According to the officer that served her there is a video of her committing this. I was told by a pre-law student that in some cases video can't be used to prove a case in NH. My question is, is this true, or is more evidence needed than just video?

    Not a good idea to post the details of your wife's crime on the internet.

    Not a good idea to rely on a pre-law student. Might as well ask the milkman or the auto mechanic.

    Get your wife a lawyer and talk to nobody but the lawyer.
  • 05-12-2020, 08:22 AM
    flyingron
    Re: Wife Served Summons for Willful Concealment in New Hampshire
    Quote:

    Quoting adjusterjack
    View Post
    Not a good idea to rely on a pre-law student. Might as well ask the milkman or the auto mechanic.

    Relax, I'm in pre-law.
    Thought you were premed?
    What's the difference?
    Quote:

    Get your wife a lawyer and talk to nobody but the lawyer.
    Absolutely.
    Quote:

    Quoting budwad
    In NH law willful concealment is not shoplifting.

    Well, since "shoplifting" isn't defined by the statute, willful concealment is just one of the forms shoplifting can take. The "good" news here is that willful concealment is never more than a misdemeanor.
    Quote:

    In shoplifting, the person must leave the premises (not just the sales area)
    Again, there's no crime of "shoplifting." Theft is the probably what you're referring to, but the statement is still incorrect. Theft occurs when (with the intent of depriving the merchant of goods or merchandise) you:

    1. Leave the premises; or
    2. Changes a price tag; or
    3. Somehow tricks the register into recording a lower price; or
    4. Transfers the item from its original container into something else.

    Theft becomes a felony when the value exceeds $1500, or $1000 if the offender has priors.
  • 05-12-2020, 09:04 AM
    pg1067
    Re: Wife Served Summons for Willful Concealment in New Hampshire
    Quote:

    Quoting nyrangerslmb
    View Post
    I was told by a pre-law student that in some cases video can't be used to prove a case in NH. My question is, is this true, or is more evidence needed than just video?

    It is absolutely true that, "in some cases," video evidence may not be admissible or, if admissible, may not be sufficient, by itself, to prove whatever is being sought to be proved. The problem is that "some cases" means something more than 0% and something less than 100%, and every case has unique facts and circumstances. Thus, the fact that, "in some cases," video might not be admissible or sufficient is a completely useless and irrelevant bit of information.

    It matters what exactly your wife is accused of having done and exactly what the video shows. Your wife needs to confer with a criminal defense attorney.
  • 05-12-2020, 10:03 AM
    budwad
    Re: Wife Served Summons for Willful Concealment in New Hampshire
    Quote:

    Quoting flyingron
    View Post

    Well, since "shoplifting" isn't defined by the statute, willful concealment is just one of the forms shoplifting can take. The "good" news here is that willful concealment is never more than a misdemeanor.

    Again, there's no crime of "shoplifting." Theft is the probably what you're referring to, but the statement is still incorrect. Theft occurs when (with the intent of depriving the merchant of goods or merchandise) you:

    1. Leave the premises; or
    2. Changes a price tag; or
    3. Somehow tricks the register into recording a lower price; or
    4. Transfers the item from its original container into something else.

    Theft becomes a felony when the value exceeds $1500, or $1000 if the offender has priors.

    There are two statutes.

    https://law.justia.com/codes/new-ham...ection-637-3-a

    https://law.justia.com/codes/new-ham...ii/644-17.html


    I guess you didn't read the case.

    Willful concealment becomes shoplifting when the perp leaves the premises.

    Quote:

    I. A person is guilty of willful concealment if, without authority, he willfully conceals the goods or merchandise of any store while still upon the premises of such store. Goods or merchandise found concealed upon the person shall be prima facie evidence of willful concealment.
    II. A person is guilty of shoplifting if, with the purpose of depriving a merchant of goods or merchandise, he knowingly:
    (a) Removes goods or merchandise from the premises of a merchant
    ;
  • 05-12-2020, 10:56 AM
    flyingron
    Re: Wife Served Summons for Willful Concealment in New Hampshire
    Quote:

    Quoting budwad
    View Post
    There are two statutes.

    https://law.justia.com/codes/new-ham...ection-637-3-a

    https://law.justia.com/codes/new-ham...ii/644-17.html


    Willful concealment becomes shoplifting when the perp leaves the premises.

    I didn't look at either of those because those are OBSOLETE versions of the Statutes. YOU NEED TO BE LOOKING AT THE 2019 statutes for what happened here, not some from four years or even over a decade ago.


    The court case is also irrelevant because THE LAW HAS CHANGED since then.
  • 05-12-2020, 01:25 PM
    budwad
    Re: Wife Served Summons for Willful Concealment in New Hampshire
    Then post a relevant link to the statute/s you say are controlling, please.
  • 05-12-2020, 02:09 PM
    pg1067
    Re: Wife Served Summons for Willful Concealment in New Hampshire
    Quote:

    Quoting flyingron
    View Post
    I didn't look at either of those because those are OBSOLETE versions of the Statutes. YOU NEED TO BE LOOKING AT THE 2019 statutes for what happened here, not some from four years or even over a decade ago.

    While I don't disagree that, in most cases, the current version of the statute should be the only version examined, it's unclear why you're nit picking here since the current (2019) version of RSA 637:3-a(I) is identical to the 2015 version and to the 2006 version of RSA 644:17(I) (with the exception that the 2015 and 2019 versions add a sentence at the end saying that the crime is a misdemeanor). However, the Thiel case concerned sub-section II of former section 644:17, which is not what the OP's wife was charged with, and the Thiel case makes the distinction between the two crimes clear.** Thus, the case isn't relevant to the OP's situation.

    ** - "RSA 644:17 defines two crimes: willful concealment, RSA 644:17, I, and shoplifting, RSA 644:17, II. . . . The distinction between willful concealment and shoplifting under RSA 644:17 occurs at the boundary of the merchant's 'premises': within the boundary, the wrongful conduct constitutes 'willful concealment'; outside the boundary, the wrongful conduct constitutes shoplifting."
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