
Quoting
jsbandb36
My question involves criminal law for the state of: Virginia
My 16 yr.old daughter has been charged with shoplifting from Dillards dept. store. This is how the story goes: she and a friend walk out of the store and are approached by a man who asks them to go back with him. He never identifies who he is. They follow him to the back room. A woman, who also does not identify herself, asks if they have anything. My daughter sais "I have this shirt" and pulls out a shirt from her bag. The other girl sais "I have nothing" The woman responds:"Where is the black shirt that you took?" and she sais "I put it back". The woman asks the girl to show her where she put it and they walk off together. Nothing is said to my daughter. Her friend and the woman come back and the friend takes the black shirt out of her bag. The woman calls the police and they come. Still, nothing is said to my daughter. The police get her information, call me and I come to get her and we leave. Today, Dillards filed shoplifting charges against my daughter. She is on probation currently for an assault charge against me. She didn't really "assault" me, but it was a way for me to get her to straighten up. She spent 10 days of a 30 day sentance in juvie. So, with this new charge she is facing the other 20 days plus time for violating probation plus shoplifting charges. The thing is...they never accused my daughter of stealing. She produced the shirt because they asked if she had anything. They had/have no idea if she stole the shirt or not. I went to the store the next day and asked if they had her on camera. They said no because she went into the dressing room with her friend. So, essentially, again, they have no proof that she took anything. It is my understanding that they need to see her actually take something and know exactly what it was that she took. My daughter is facing heavy consequences if she is found guilty in any way. Help!!