Caught shoplifting in CA - Petty Theft p.c. 488

Yesterday I was detained for attempting to shoplift a t-shirt valued at $18.95 with a friend. My friend attempted to take a shirt as well as a bottle of something, which totaled to something around $27. I just turned 18 a few weeks ago, and my friend is still 17. Both of us have clean records and no priors. My friend had his wallet with over 200 dollars inside, and I did not have my I.D. or wallet on me, and only had 6 cents in my pocket. This occured at a small, privately owned surf shop in Southern California.

We were caught when the alarms at the door went off. I was shocked and just stood there, and employees came out and escorted us back to the manager's office. They called the Sheriff before asking any questions. We both panicked, and my friend got the idea of running out of the office and trying to escape. I followed suit, except I had knee surgery 2 months ago so I obviously didn't get very far. I do not know what I was thinking at the time when I did this. I was just in complete shock and was not using rational judgement.

A sheriff arrived shortly after (with my friend in cuffs), and I was sitting in the office. He then takes the manager out for questioning, and then questions both of us separately. I overhear the Sherriff asking the Manager if they have video footage of us, and the Manager says "No" because their security cameras were not working at the time. Does this change anything? We are separtely taken to the Station where I am detained, fingerprinted, and then turned over to my friend's parents. Before leaving, the arresting officer told us he thought we were good kids who made a dumb choice and thanked us for being cooperative throughout the whole questioning process.

He wrote me a citation for Petty Theft - p.c. 488 and a court date was set for May 30.

In these last 24 hours, I have matured a whole lot. I never realized that a preconceived minor offense could have such harsh penalties. I am deathly afraid that these actions will have permanent consequences. The world looks a whole lot different from the back of a police car.


I am curious to know what my next steps should be, I called an attouney today and said that he will cover my case for $3500, and that sounded like a ridicuolously high price. My ultimate goal is to just keep this from being on my permanent record. I am willing to do whatever it takes - hundreds of hours of community service, diversion programs, etc. Also, is it possible to get this down to an infraction? And does an infraction stay on my permanent records? The attourney said that there's a good chance he would be able to get it down to a trespassing charge... what does that mean?

Also, I will be attending college (out of state) next fall. If I am sentenced probation or anything else, how will this affect this? How many hours of community service are typically issued for cases similar to mine... it in the tens or hundreds of hours? Is there a possibility that this can be settled out of court since it is a small shop and not a commercial retailing giant like Target?


IN SUMMARY: Caught shoplifting $18.95, no priors, looking for alternatives to keep this off permanent record. ANY help would be appreciated. Thank you.




TO ALL YOU YOUNG SHOPLIFTERS OUT THERE: STOP! It is not worth it! I may have destroyed my future, and I would not consider myself a very experienced shoplifter at all. Just because your friends do it, it's not OK! No matter how good they are, they will eventually get caught! I know I have screwed myself already but I hope I can persuade someone else from not giving in to the peer pressure to steal so they dont have to go down the road that I'm about to go down. Shoplifting is no joke! I was so ashamed and disgusted by myself that I literally got sick to my stomach. This has been a life-changing event for me.

After doing some research on this board, I have come to the conclusion:

Can I get past this with a Public Defender or should I hire a lawyer?

Does an infraction stay on your permanent record? And if it does, how is it categorized?

I am a current student making no income, would I be eligible for a diversion program and how long would this program last?

The very best advice is to hire the best lawyer you can afford. It's possible with a good attorney to have the whole thing thrown out.
Second best thing is to hire a good lawyer that you can afford. If he can get it to trespassing, that's a lot better than shoplifting.
Still, shoplifting at 18, isn't the end of the world. Stay clean and future employers will look at it as a teenage prank. Of course you will never work at the CIA or FBI, but you've probably blown that already anyway.
You're lucky this happened before the shoplifting became a habit. Thank your lucky stars and move on.

The punishment (whatever it is....community service, fine, whatever...and it may be nothing at all) will be insignificant. But, try to remember the fear and huge mess your life is in right now. That's the real punishment. Don't ever be in that situation again.

You are the master of your universe. Make your universe a good place for you.

Good luck, Leesa

I agree. I feel as if I have already been punished enough and I will never even contemplate shoplifting again. My life is in shambles right now. I will do anything to get past this and not have it go on my permanent record because I don't want my immature mistakes to impact my future too much. I just had a consultation with an attourney and he said he would cover everything except he's asking $4,500. There is no way I can afford that. I want to be well-represented to minimize my punishment but I can only really afford a lawyer willing to cover my case for a couple hundred dollars. I don't know what to do... if I should just take a public defender or not. I am willing to do tons of community service or probation or whatever, anything to keep it from devestating my future. I never knew such common (teenage) actions could have such devestating results.

Bite the bullet and fess up to the folks. If they are paying to send you to college, they can probably afford a few thousand for a good attorney.

It will hurt in the short term, but believe me, it will be the right thing to do in the long run. If you don't tell them and it ends up as a theft charge on your permanent record, they will eventually find out and will be devastated that you didn't ask them for help. Believe me, tell them now, and get the help you need and deserve now.

A few thousand shelled out now is nothing if you have really learned your lesson. Tell them.
Leesa

I dont live in CA but that seems outrageously high for an attorney fee. An attorney can never give a guarantee so unless he has an excellent reputation I can not believe the fee would be this high for this incident and considering your record. In my area the fees are ranging $500-$1500 for first offense.

I'd suggest getting a public defender and look into a diversion program. If you qualify for the program, once you finish it the charge drops off. If you take a trespass charge when it comes up in a back ground check (even if it's when a cop runs you for a ticket) it can be viewed as a sex crime. A lot of criminals get sex charges reduced to trespass.....so it can look bad.

I just don't understand because some of the people on this board said that they got lawyers for $250, every lawyer that I've called for a consultation has asked for at least 2,500.

How much would a lawyer really benefit me instead of a Public Defender in my case, because it is relatively minor. I just want to get this dropped to an infraction or do the diversion program.

Out of curiosity, what are the qualifications for a diversion program, and how would I know if I even qualify?

A PD is just as capable as a high $$ lawyer, you could call your local court to see if they have a diversion program and what you need to do. IMHO.....save your money for the fine and use the PD.

That is what I've concluded. I am still going to tell my parents but I am going to use a PD.

Couple questions:

Would my PD be in the county were the court case is being arraigned or in my local county? And can I just call the court myself to see in they offer diversion programs?

I am of course going to go for a diversion program first, but if that fails I would like to get an infraction. What is the nature of an infraction? Is it just paying a fine and then you're off the hook, or is there community service and probation involved (I am fine doing those btw, that is not an issue, I am just curious).

And diversion programs are 6 months with 2 years probation right?

Does the fact that I'm giong to college out-of-state next fall affect any of this?

Your PD will be at the court you go to, it's hard to say if your area has the program but probably do have something along those lines. I can't say about the school deal, tell the PD and the court will work with you as long as you are up front with it. Most times it's a little of all that, probation, community service plus court costs.