Shoplifting at Macy's in Florida

My question involves criminal law for the state of: Florida

I was caught shoplifting in Macy's in Florida. I am 17, but i told them i was 16. No fingerprints were taken, but I have a court trial coming up and I have been banned from the store. I attempted to steal around $180 worth of merchandise. My birthday is coming up in about 3 weeks. What can I do and what should I expect? I'm not a bad person, I volunteer at a hospice every week and get good grades, it was just a stupid mistake and I regret it so much.:wallbang:

Hey bro Im in the same situation in the same state MIAMi, but mine issue was for 50 dollars and I'm 21. It was so damn stupid but now I gotta deal with it. Im looking to hire a lawyer becuase I can't let this stay in my record Im a nursing student, I should be getting the court papers in a week or less becuase the incident was in the beginning of May and I would expect that you need to go to court a month later, I'll let you know how it turns out! Good lucks man.

Have you told your parents? If you haven't, you need to do that, and do that now.

You'll want an attorney. If your parents won't get one for you, show up at court, plead Not Guilty, and ask for a Public Defender.

S/he will help you sort out your options, and may be able to get you into a diversion program, which will get you fines, classes and probation, and leave you with a clean record if you successfully complete your probation.

Hope things will go well for you and me FootballLineBacker55. I saw some
Interesting things on geting your records expunged, so you might want to check it out.

I don't understand why I should plead not guilty LawResearcherMissy, I was caught (I guess they saw me on video).

With that evidence wouldn't I get in more trouble for pleading not guilty than by just pleading guilty? Either way I'm going to tell the truth in this ugly matter.

Thank you to everyone who has posted, I really need the help and am
still clueless...:o

Bro you should see an lawyer at least get a free consultation. I havent done that but I've been receiving a bunch of letters from lawyers in the area and starting monday I will start going to see some of them; whoever does free consultations. Becuase Im not paying to sit down with a lawyer just to hear his suggestions!
Anyways, a friend of mine is in a similar situation but with a smaller store and she went with her lawyer in front of a judged and pleaded not guilty. Then they were scheduled for trial in a month or so. I want to see how her lawyer handles it because now they probably will bring the people from the store I guess with the tape and maybe even the cops to testify against her. So that serves as an example. It also depends on how were u arrested and even which lawyer do you choose. I've read of people who testify not guilty and then in the second trial they dont bring lawyer or anybody to represent them and if the judge is having a bad day and you are not respectful or whatever he could send you to jail. It just complicated dont go throw it by yourself with a lawyer bro at least try to get a public defendant. Most likely they should allow u to exponge as long as it is your first offense, Florida is a pretty leniant state for example I've heard that in states like georgia you might not be able to exponge even if it is your first time. The question is how long will you have to wait to exponge and in my case I need to do it ASAP before february hopefully because of Nursing school. Keep in touch and good luck bro.

It's normally to plead not guilty,if you plead guilty right away your at the mercy of the court.A lawyer can hopefully get you into to some type of diversion program.

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Quoting foghat

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I don't understand why I should plead not guilty LawResearcherMissy, I was caught (I guess they saw me on video).

With that evidence wouldn't I get in more trouble for pleading not guilty than by just pleading guilty? Either way I'm going to tell the truth in this ugly matter.

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Pleading Not Guilty even though you're guilty as the day is long is standard operating procedure, to give you time to consult with your attorney and try to get the most favorable outcome. It is expected that you plead Not Guilty - most judges will react with incredulity and ask you several times if you're absolutely sure you don't want to change that plea to Not Guilty.

There's a reason for this.

If you plead guilty, you tie the court's hands and shut yourself out of any chance of a diversion program. You ensure yourself a criminal record that will follow you around for the rest of your life.

Again, thank you to everyone who posted. Your replies are so helpful and I really appreciate them. Is there really any major difference between a public defender and an attourney? I don't have much money, and will most likely have to get a public defendant. Is there a higher success rate with either concerning shoplifting?

A "public defender" and an "attorney" are the one in the same. Be prepared to explain to the judge why you lied about your age.