My question involves criminal law for the state of: Washington
I shoplifted from Wal-Mart in Washington state. I know it was wrong and now I'm about to deal with the consequences. I'm not mentally stable and I've spent the last 9 years with severe depression (I'm only 21). I haven't found a treatment that has been helpful or effective. This is NOT an excuse, but it is the reason for shoplifting. I found that shopping or "retail therapy" would temporarily relieve my depression and this worked fine while I had a job. My lack of mental stability has caused me to be fired from every job I've had. I then turned to credit cards to shop and maxed 2 of them (yes I am kicking myself really hard now because I have no income and no way to pay them off). So after the loss of my 15 year old dog I pretty much went off the deep end becoming suicidal and dropping out of college. My grandmother is also very sick with cancer so my family has been going through a stressful time. I was desperate for an escape from my life and relief from my depressed mood so I stole. I knew it was wrong, but all I could think about was distracting my mind away from my life. I'm used to screwing myself over in life, but this is the first time it has been a legal issue. I did steal, I got caught, I was cooperative, police were called and the report was filed over the phone, I was not arrested as the police didn't come to the store, and then I was released by the loss prevention people. I'm not sure what to do in court. I wanted to get a lawyer, but a friend told me I would just be screwing myself over even more by getting myself into deeper financial/legal problems. My hope is that I won't get theft on my record. I've read of some people getting a civil infraction although I'm not positive what that is just that it's a lesser charge. I'm willing to pay fines (hopefully though community service as I have no income). If I plead guilty I will most likely be sentenced right then (right?) and I won't have any time to talk about other options. It doesn't make sense to plead not guilty when I obviously did it. I'm working really hard to find effective treatment, currently working with my doctor, counselor, and psychiatrist, and coming to a point of this being so serious and refractory that one of the options we are looking into is ECT. I just don't want to fight so hard to beat my mental problems and when I'm finally successful I then have this theft charge hindering my life. At the time I didn't think of this, but when I had the urge to steal to relieve my symptoms I should have contacted my counselor immediately. It's like my common sense disappears and then when I'm dealing with the consequences I'm like what the h*ll was I thinking? I got my court papers in the mail today (Tuesday) and my court date Monday. How do I go about discussing alternative punishment to a third degree theft charge without a lawyer? I've tried researching this, but I'm not getting anywhere (not sure if this is because I suck at learning this court business or if my brain is just 'broken' from the withdrawal of the meds I am getting off of). I dug myself in a giant hole and I'm praying for a kind soul to help me out of it. Or at least throw me a water bottle so I don't get dehydrated down here lol. THANK YOU to anyone who read my entire long long long post.
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