Caught Shoplifting in Mervyns

Hi, I live in California and I'm 16 years old. I got caught shoplifting when I was 15 years old at Mervyns in a mall. It was one of the worst days of my life. My friend (also 15 at the age) and I were caught by the store security and were brought into his office. We were handcuffed one hand to the benches that they had us sat on. They asked us for our information (name, address, phone, ID, etc.) The merchandise was worth less than $250 so I think it was considered a misdemeanor or petty theft. We were in there for about 2-3 hours. He was typing up our information on his computer and took pictures of us. He said we could never go back to the store and banned from the mall for 6 months.

Then he contacted the police and contacted our parents to pick us up. When the police came, he handed us to the police's custody, and the police officer drove us to a little police station at the end of the mall. Then when our parents came to pick up up, the police give our parents some papers to sign and we then were released. A few weeks later, my friend and I got a bill from Mervyns and it said, if we pay the fine, they won't take us to court. Then of course, we paid. About two weeks later, we got another letter telling us to go to a class for one day. The purpose of the class was basically teaching us not to do illegal stuff and making us realize our mistakes. The class had all people under 18 and they were there for different reasons, like getting caught doing drugs or drinking, shoplifting and many other reasons (but not serious like killing someone.)

I regret what happened very much and I am not going to do anything illegal again.

:confused:
But my questions are:
1. Is it on my permanent record because I didn't have to go to court but the police were involved?

2. Does that mean I was arrested? For right now, when I apply for job or something, under the section have you ever been arrested, do I put yes or no? What about after I turn 18?

3. After I turn 21, if I want to apply to government jobs, would they have the access to see?

4. And is there any way to check my record? (other than finding an attorney because I know it would cost a lot of money to hire one)

Please help me with those questions if you can. Thank you

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1. Is it on my permanent record because I didn't have to go to court but the police were involved?

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You have an arrest record but not a criminal record

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2. Does that mean I was arrested? For right now, when I apply for job or something, under the section have you ever been arrested, do I put yes or no? What about after I turn 18?

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Yes you were arrested however I have yet to see an appication (they may exist) that ask about arrests only convictions. Many crimes committed as a minor become sealed once you reach age of majority.

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3. After I turn 21, if I want to apply to government jobs, would they have the access to see?

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I would say yes, but thats an assumption

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4. And is there any way to check my record? (other than finding an attorney because I know it would cost a lot of money to hire one)

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sure spend around $30.00 to $50.00 and run a background check on yourself

hi, what's the difference between the record being sealed and expungement? Can records be permanently destroyed that no one will be able to see it (no even the government)?

also what a Diversion program? Is it too late to get that now? I was reading some posts on this site and there was a lot of mentions about Diversion programs and something about after finishing that, the records won't be there?

:(Another question, does anyone know any good websites to do a background check? with cheap and accurate informations? Thanks!

Just find your local online court database and put your name in. That will show you what, if anything will show up on a background check. It is doubtful that you being a minor would have anything show up.

Do background checks include arrests?( I'm still not sure that arrest is on my record or not) Or only like convictions? The thing is that there are so many websites that says I can do background checks there, but how do I know if which one works?

A standard background check will not normally include arrests but, that is not a gurantee

:confused: If it usually doesn't what else can I do?

Please help, I really want to know if it is or not. Because I will need to know after I turn 18 if I need to get an expungment or hire lawyer to get my record off.:(

Even if its expunged if someone is willing to put the effort and money into finding out they will. Ther eis no exact answer. Getting your arrest expunged is best way to ensure employers or anyone will not see it but its not a 100% gurantee

A lot of things could have happened. For example, the police could have officially classified your arrest as a "detention" so that no record would be likely to exist outside of the police station. If there is an arrest record you should be able to petition the Juvenile Court to seal the record under Section 781 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.

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Quoting greenapplegirl

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1. Is it on my permanent record because I didn't have to go to court but the police were involved?

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It depends on what you mean by your "permanent" record. If you are asking if you have a state criminal history? The answer is very likely, no.

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2. Does that mean I was arrested? For right now, when I apply for job or something, under the section have you ever been arrested, do I put yes or no? What about after I turn 18?

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Yes, you would appear to have been arrested. However, in CA most employers (with the exception of certain government positions and law enforcement) cannot even ASK about arrests - only convictions. Since you have apparently not been convicted or had a true finding for any criminal offense, you would not need to answer that you had.

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3. After I turn 21, if I want to apply to government jobs, would they have the access to see?

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It depends on the job. Not all government positions will have access to this information.

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4. And is there any way to check my record? (other than finding an attorney because I know it would cost a lot of money to hire one)

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As a juvenile it can be tough. If you have never been to court or fingerprinted, it's probably safe to say that the state does not have a record of you. Most juvenile actions like you describe stay within the probation department and are handled informally.

However, an attorney could help you navigate the ins and outs of YOUR situation.



- Carl

Thanks for all your help. I found this website, http://ag.ca.gov/fingerprints/security.php
and I was thinking about doing that. Do you think that is necessary because it says criminal records but it may not include arrests?

You can certainly do it ... but, if you have not been booked (photographed and fingerprinted), and you have not been before a court, then you shouldn't have a CORI file.

- Carl

:( ! so there's no definite way to find out if I have an arrest record or not?

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Quoting greenapplegirl

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:( ! so there's no definite way to find out if I have an arrest record or not?

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The first thing you have to understand is that there is no one single file somewhere that contains your "arrest record". There would be a number of records ... an agency that has detained or arrested you will have a record ... the agency that houses you on the charges (jail or juvenile hall) will have a record ... if you were fingerprinted or sent to court over a crime, the state might have a criminal offender record ... the court will ALSO have a record.

If you want to see what these places have on you, then you need to do a lot of legwork to check out what everyone has on you. But, if this is what you say, and it's your only police contact, you have little or nothing to worry about.

- Carl