Is a Civil Demand the End of the Story

My question involves criminal law for the state of: California

I was caught shoplifting an item of less than $20 at a retail store in California. They(Loss Prevention People) let me go without calling the police and said it would be up to the store's lawyers to decide what would happen next.

So today, about a month after i got caught, i received a letter from their lawyer asking for a civil demand of $400.

At the bottom of the letter it says "IMPORTANT NOTICE: The payment of any demand made upon does not prevent criminal prosecution under a related criminal statute provision. Payment of the amount demanded may not be used in any court proceedings by our client as an admission of liability."

Can someone please explain what that means to me in simpler terms. From what I could understand, it means they can still take me to court. If so, why should i pay the bill? Will paying it make it less likely that i go to court? If i pay it and they still decide to prosecute, will they go easier on me since i paid it?

I could easily just send the money tomorrow, but I'm not sure that's the best way to go. Please reply soon. Any help would be appreciated. :)


*also, i'm not a minor and this is my first time getting caught breaking the law. not sure if that's important..*

A civil demand is completely seperate from criminal charges, meaning one has nothing to do with the other. I suggest you pay the civil demand as soon as possible, as it will not dissappear, no matter how much you ignore it. In fact, that civil demand will continue to grow, and grow, and haunt you until you do pay it.

It is up to the store whether to call the police, and file charges. They have a year to decide to do so. Based on the amount of merchandise that you say you had,and the fact that they didn't call them in on the day you were caught, I highly doubt that they will.

You should consider yourself very lucky, and take this as a very expensive lesson learned. Good Luck

K. Thanks. I sent the money. It actually was a very good lesson. Shoplifting a crappy little thing caused me a month of stress. I'm glad I got some sense knocked into me stealing something small and not something more expensive. I'm glad it seems to be over.

One more question. I have no record since there was no arrest, right? I don't have to mention this to employers do I?

There should be no formal criminal record, but if you were photographed, you might be put in the stores shoplifters data base, and may possibly hinder any chance of working in that particular chain of stores, or other retail stores, depending on who they share info with. Good luck.