My question involves criminal law for the state of: California (Specifically the Santa Clara County in Northern California)
So to be clear and concise, I am 18 year old with no priors and a clean record aside from a cell phone violation. I was recently cited with a PC 484/488 Petty Theft Misdemeanor at Safeway when I attempted to steal $67 worth of alcohol. I cooperated and there was no unnecessary fuss. I am now banned from all Safeway and needs to pay a restitution fee. I haven't appeared at court yet. Nothing has came from mail yet, but I have been reading threads in this forum and have a few questions.
I am a college student in good standing, but although I have a job, it pays about $13/hr. So here are the questions I have.
1. Is it necessary to get a private lawyer? Since I read that they can be unncessarily expansive when Public Defenders can do just as well of a job.
2. Can I get it reduced to an infraction? Since the stolen items total up to $67
3. Is it better to try and get an infraction or wait a year and get the misdemeanor expunged? In terms of fees and criminal record for jobs.
4. Is it necessary for my parents to know? I do have about $1500 saved up and I would prefer my parents didn't know :/
I plan on calling an attorney to set up a free consultation to see what are my possible options, and also call the court to see if I'm eligible for a public defender.
Thanks for helping me out! I've resented what I've done and am sorry and this has just been driving me crazy the past few weeks. If you have any advice or answers to my questions, I would really appreciate it.

