MI- Retail fraud 3rd degree, first offence, going to court
My Story- I was in a store at the mall, I saw a cosmetic that I wanted, I had the $30 in my purse, the exact price of the cosmetic, however I had no gas in my car and a long drive home from the mall. I opened the package, removed the cosmetic and stuck it in my purse, then wondered around the mall for an hour, doing nothing but walking around out in the open.
4 security guards and the clerk that saw me take the cosmetic surrounded me, took me back to the store, read me the whole bit. An officer came, and I had indeed admitted to everything, written down my story and signed it. The officer then put me in handcuffs, escorted me to the police station, fingerprinted me and took pictures and everything.
No jail, no fines, I got a letter on friday saying there is a warrant out for my arrest and to appear in court ASAP. I'm going tommorrow at 8:30AM
This is my first offence, I'm 19, in college, I'm even on the honor roll and my boyfriend is a security guard at Target. I felt horrible when I took it, I felt horrible after I took it, I'm not a stupid person; my boyfriend tells me stories about work all the time, and he's studying to be a criminal justice major right now. I think the reason I didn't leave immediatly is because I wanted to get caught.
I live with my grandparents, and when they saw a letter with my name on it from a police department they flipped, My boyfriend is the only one who knows about what happened, and my grandparents think that I was sent a letter because I was a witness to an accident (I know that dishonesty after dishonesty is wrong, but I can't bear the idea of them knowing that I did something so heartless)
My Questions Are:
How do I avoid getting anything else sent to my home? I plan to plead guilty, but is there a way where I can physcially go and pick up the papers myself? or phone calls to my cell phone?
I also don't wan't this on my record, I'm hoping that since I was extreemly cooperative, and am pleading guilty that I'll be let off with fines and community service.....jail time would break my grandparents hearts....both of my parents have had long term jail times before...and I don't have moeny laying around for a lawyer.
Also, what should I expect? I have no idea how court proceedings go....
help?