Shoplifting Charge at JC Penny

One last major question. I hear a lot about cases being dismissed or acquitted. Is there any chance of this? Will this not affect a permanent record?

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Quoting Bmrs007

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One last major question. I hear a lot about cases being dismissed or acquitted. Is there any chance of this? Will this not affect a permanent record?

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Remember that piece of paper you signed that said you admitted to the theft?

That is know in legal circles as "a confession".

It is very difficult to get a dismissal or acquittal when you have given a confession.

There is an excellent chance at a deferment or expungement at the end of sentence, but I wouldn't count on an acquittal.

How long does a sentence normally last? And also I remember they did full body searches to both of us. Not the police, but the loss agents. Neither of us gave verbal consent to this. Is this allowed?

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Quoting Bmrs007

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How long does a sentence normally last? And also I remember they did full body searches to both of us. Not the police, but the loss agents. Neither of us gave verbal consent to this. Is this allowed?

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Sentences normally last a year of probation... assuming you pay all the fines, restitution and complete your community service on time.

Yes, they are allowed to see if you stole anything else.

When we were brought into the room, we were told nothing. The loss protection agents and the police knew that we were first time offenders. Shouldn't they have told us what our options were? I feel as though they conspired us into signed sheets - they made it seem as though it would be easy to get out of. In addition, shouldn't we have received some form of our rights read to us? I believe if we were under citizen's arrest, we should have been read our rights, which we were not. We were also detained in a room; they never told us that we had the option to get up and leave, and we were also questioned about our crime and our past history. I believe that the police and the loss protection agents got the vibe that we were nervous, so they knew we would comply. However, if they explained to us the situation and the options that we had, even read us our rights, we would not have been so dumbfounded. We would have thought about getting an attorney and not signing papers until we learned further of our options. Is this valid?

It is not the job of the Victims to inform the thieves as to their rights.