Shoplifting In Florida

:( I was caught shoplfting from bloomingdales in florida, the goods ammounted to 1075 dollars, it was two dresses, i was arrested and now i am out on bail, i never went to pre-trial. I already have a lawyer, i went and retained one the next day and he says he will get it expunged, but i can;t sleep because i am so scared and i have no appitite, this was seriously my first time doing something wrong, all i have is one driving ticket on my record, i really made an honest mistake, my lawyer told me to plead not guilty even when the lp told me at the store that they have tape of me taking the dresses and a signed confession, also i am charged with a 3rd degree felony, please tell me what will be the outcome of this case based on your experience? i just don't want to ever go to jail or have this on my record. please help

I hope you have a lot of faith in your lawyer. The charges are as serious as a heart attack. Good chance of getting them reduced to misdemeaner but for your lawyer to get the charges reduced and then removed from your record...good luck. Anything is possible but I would get a second opinion and thats just me.
You are also looking at a civil demand of close to 3000.00 if not more.

Florida law allows you to expunge your non-judicial (police records, corrections records, and other agency records) and judicial records (state attorney and court case files) if you meet these requirements:

1. Have never applied for a criminal record sealing or expunction before;
2. Haven't been convicted of a crime, misdemeanor, criminal ordinance, or a felony;
3. Are not under any type of court supervision.

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Quoting Security Consultant

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Florida law allows you to expunge your non-judicial (police records, corrections records, and other agency records) and judicial records (state attorney and court case files) if you meet these requirements:

1. Have never applied for a criminal record sealing or expunction before;
2. Haven't been convicted of a crime, misdemeanor, criminal ordinance, or a felony;
3. Are not under any type of court supervision.

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Does this apply to felonies as well?

Yes it does.

do i have to be found not guilty to get it expunged? can my lawyer get me off even if i signed the confession and they said that they have a tape of me taking dresses?
Also my lawyer told me to not pay the civil demand, can i be punished not paying them? i gave the dresses back to them in perfect condition.
And yes i do meet the requirements of expungement, this is my first ofence. I seriously made a bad call and it was all because my friend told me that she gets away with it and does it all the time, i was so stupid for listening to her, i am so ashamed

You state you have hired an attorney - these are questions you should ask of him/her.

i have, and he told me that he will get them expunged but i guess i still am in prison in my mind and i can;t still believe that i will get off so i thought that i could find out what is the worse case outcome of this, my lawyer refused to answer that for me since he said that there is no worse case outcome as far as he is concerned, but i guess i am just so freaked out, all i can think of is how i don't want to go to jail so i am trying to get as much opinion as possible, and thank you for even answering my questions so far

What happens if i don't pay the civil demand?

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Quoting please help so scared

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What happens if i don't pay the civil demand?

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I guess you want more trouble! Fail to pay CD fine will rise (maybe triple) still fail to pay and you can be sued (and will lose) thus paying even more plus court cost and legal fees most likely. So in short you will take a fine of a fewe hundred and make it a few thousand. do the math its not worth it pay the fine

The goods that i stole were 1075 dollars, actually it was just two real high end dresses, i am told that the civil demand will be 3000 and why did my lawyer tell me not to pay it? i am just looking for help here, not trouble!

Just add zeros to the numbers I gave. I have no clue why your Attorney advised you to ignore a Civil fine that is backed by state law. Perhaps he feels the retailer will not make the effort to take it to court (if left unpaid) however thats a big risk if you ask me. Here is a picture of what "could" happen

. Fine $3000.00
. Unpaid after time fine triples to $9000.00
. Still unpaid after time rises again $12000.00
. Still unpaid you are sued and will pay at least the $12000.00 plus court cost and legal fees.

Now is it worth the risk?

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Quoting please help so scared

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The goods that i stole were 1075 dollars, actually it was just two real high end dresses, i am told that the civil demand will be 3000 and why did my lawyer tell me not to pay it? i am just looking for help here, not trouble!

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Look you have a lawyer which you are paying so you need to take his advice or get a different attorney who will answer your questions. I have no idea why he would tell you not to pay the civil demand. Maybe it has something to do with the state laws. Panther or security consultant are the experts in this field imo so take what they say as gold. Your not causing any trouble either :p

does paying the civil demand mean that i have addmited to my guilt? shold i wait till the time my case gets resolved

No, civil is different than criminal. You already agreed to pay it in the store anyway.
Did you get the letter for demand in the mail yet?
This is what I'm not getting...USUALLLY (panther please correct me if I'm wrong) civil demand is going to be part of any diversion program that you get into. If you can't/don't/wont pay the demand for whatever the reason, then it's not going to go away. Apparently if your going to steal, you at least did it in the correct state as a felony conviction can be expunged.

Civil Demand is a "Civil" action. Your court case and its verdict are the criminal case. They are unrelated except they are over same event. Paying Civil Demand is not an admission of guilt and cannot be used in your criminal case as such

no i have not recieved the civil demand in the mail yet, i just asked about it cause in the one of the previous posts someone said that i am looking at a civil demand of 3000

Some Civil Demands have a max and the $3000.00 may exceed that max. I am unsure what (if any) max dollar amount is for your state. Whoever told you $3000.00 may be wrong ask him/her if they are familar with your states Civil Demand laws

I am ready to pay civil demand if i don't go to jail, i just want to know what are the odds that i will go to jail over this, this is my first time offence, the reason that i am worried is cause the goods are of an high value and its a felony, maybe i am asking stupid questions but its also because i have no idea about all this, it was my 1st time acting so stupid and getting caught. Thank you all for your answers and patience.

It would be unfair for us to tease or scare you with speculation. Your Attorney is best suited to give you that answer

thank you for all of you for posting replies, i just have one last question to ask, in your experience, what should be the outcome of this case?,
Charged with 3rd degree felony for 1075 and 1st time offence, i am 33 years old and highly educated, i have a masters, currently i am unemployed but i am writing a book. I know you have all heard this excuse million times before but i seriously made a mistake, worst of my life after i took so called advice from my so called friend. I am just freaking out and just want to know what is the worst case senario regarding this

Once again I would refer that question to your Attorney

Panther - Life isn't fair.

This post may get whacked because it's unfair or teasing, but here goes.

It's only 2 dresses. It's only 2 dresses worth $500+ per piece! You are fortunate that you are not being hit with 2 Felony charges.


If you are paying good money for your attorney then make an appointment with his/her office and go speak with him/her at his/her convenience. Ask them why you should not pay the CR fee. Ask them what you should do. Follow their instructions. Ask your attorney what he/she sees on a normal basis.

A Felony is a serious serious thing. It really prevents you from having what most of us would consider "The good life." The good jobs are out the window. You can actually complain about who got elected because you don't have the right to vote. You may not be able to get that 2nd Masters or get in a PhD program. You will find that even getting your kid(s) into a private school will be difficult. My guess is that your parents are upper middle class or lower upper class and might want grandbabies soon, but understand your push towards your profession. ...and you are likely have your share off suitors, but just wanted a nice dress for the date. This is just a guess. Owning a firearm so that you can defend yourself is out the window. On the upside, you will get to spent time once a month with someone in the legal system, may get occasional drug evals, etc.

If your attorney gets it dropped to lesser charges, such as a misdemenor, then you are a very fortunate person and life will be a lot easier because you won't have the Felony monkey on your back for the next 60 years.

If they get diversion then they walk on water and have a really good relationship with the courts and with their higher power. You will learn about higher powers if you are part of a 12-step shoplifting program.

My advice is, don't listen to this usedbranflakes dude, he sounds kinda soupey.


I have seen people charged with theft over 25 times NEVER EVER EVER receive jailtime. It all depends on your locality. Stay in communication with your lawyer. Show them you are serious. You may have to admit guilt and get put on a deferred disposition, but that is better than being found guilty.

Think about all the hoodlums that steal cars and rob houses. Many get put on probation for their first offence. You on the other hand did a non violent crime. If you have a really respected lawyer, you will get this knocked off your record in no time.

Stop beating yourself up about this, what has been done is in the past. Move forward.

Soupey? Soupy? Is that like Ditzy?

That having been said, I do agree with BAM! on most of what he says.

I have seen a few attorneys that can walk on water. One of them took a schoolteacher and got her a misdemeanor uttering charge off of something like 18 Felony forgery charges. I saw a guy with a Felony carjacking (strongarm) arrest get the charges dismissed because poor arrest procedures; technically the evidence was dismissed and the case had to be dismissed.

In the years that I spent time with law enforcement I never saw a convicted or plea bargained car thief not have to do some jail time unless they were a juvenile. Again, it does boil down to municipality. Our municipality did not tolerate car theft. Two people had been killed that year in car thefts.

I have never seen someone charged with theft 25 times never do jail time. I have seen a lot of people with misdemeanor theft, particularly young people, get probation.

Only a good attorney knows the habits of the prosecutor, judge, LP agents for the store, etc.

When I worked LP and credit all of our Felonies at the store resulted in some jail time, restitution, and probation, even if they were dropped to misdemeanor. ...and the people that had the charges dropped usually had 1 of 5 of the top attorneys in town. ...and those guys walked on water, had nice offices across from the courthouse, and had a phenomenal set of paralegals. One of the attorneys went on to be a state representative...so he walked on water.

thank you so much all of you for all your help, i will keep all of you posted on what is happenning in my case so maybe others can get help on this too. If any of you comes up with any information that might help me again i will be so grateful.

And as of my locality, i live in miami dade, if you guys have any info on how they treat 1st time offenders here, i will be more than glad, maybe i will be able to sleep in a couple of nights.:(