Caught Shoplifting at Lord & Taylor

I was caught shoplifting from lord and taylors it was for having 5 sweaters that were worth $600. This happend last night and my court date is tuesday December 20. What will i expect when i go to court? I did not have to post bail to be released from the police station or anything. The ticket violation is 2c:20-11b i dont have enough money for an atorney what will happend if i go there on tuesday and plead guility i am 18 years old and have a clean record. and i was very coperative with the police during questioning

If you plead guilty, you will be convicted and will have a criminal record of the offense. If you have no prior record, you will probably receive a sentence involving a fine, probation, and possibly community service. You may wish to consult a local lawyer to see if there is any way you might be able to avoid a criminal record.

pleading guilty is the worst thing you can do. If you don't have enough money for a lawyer take the public defender. If you just don't want to scrape up enough money for a lawyer I suggest you do, this is worth it.

I agree with the other two posts, if you walk in and plead out you'll get bent over. Take a public defender if you can't afford to get a private attorney, the DA will aim high and the PD will shoot low. You'll end up in the middle and most likely be better off.

of course take the public defender .. it's better than not having anything else .. i have a lot of friends that did that cuz they didn't have the money.. but they said it ended up screwing them over anyways .. because the public defender and the DA work together - fu*king bastards .. i'm in a similar position .. i was caught shoplifting at lord & taylor's .. my parents were so pissed off that they weren't going to get me a lawyer .. but they ended up getting me one last second .. and believe me, it feels a lot more secure .. so if there's anyway you can do that .. definitely go for it .. cuz not knowing all that legal sh*t is intimidating as hell .. and yeah don't plead guilty - i didn't get that either .. that's what i wanted to do .. but even the policeman that had me in handcuffs was like nooo don't plead guilty .. don't worry everyone pleads not guilty .. that's what you're like supposed to do .. sorry i can't really help .. but i guess its always nice hearing that other ppl are going thru the same bullsh*t u are .. good luck with it all