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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Location
    smc
    Posts
    1

    Default I've never shoplifted before, and I got caught

    Hello,

    I recently was in a grocery store and purchased my medication from the pharmacy. Then I went to the beauty products aisles and concealed 28 dollars worth of merchandise, in my bag. I left the store quickly and was apprehended by three men who led me to the merchandise recovery room. At first they were very aggressive but then I started shaking uncontrollably and crying because I was dumfounded at myself, why did I do this? They kept asking me if I had drugs in my bag or a previous criminal record. They said, what are you so upset about? Wow, what was I upset about???? Oh, I felt so guilty and weird and not myself. A policeman came and charged me with Retail Fraud III. The store guys took a picture of me. My court date is May 10. I don't know what to do!!

    --I had just started taking a new medication, not that it excuses me, but I think it must have had something to do with what happened. Because this is not me. At all. For more background, I was unemployed at the time, and my first day of work was coming up. My boyfriend of four years, for whom I moved here to Portland, Oregon from small town Maine, was verbally abusive. I was in a lot of pain (still am) because, as it turns out, I have some kind of a tumor. I was totally out of it. (I still am pretty out of it, but I have a good job at a hospital, with insurance for my health issues, and I'm better off for my boyfriend leaving. ) I have been going to church again. I am trying to figure out why I would do such a thing.

    Anyway, I still don't have much money and would likely qualify for a court-appointed lawyer. Should I get one? Should I send a money order to Theft Talk, an organization that counsels people who shoplift, for an online class? The store and has since sent a demand letter for $250 and the $28 dollars. I have called them but they haven't called back. I will make a payment plan with them asap.

    Though I'm practically numb with guilt, I really don't think it's appropriate somehow for this to be on my record--- and I need to know how to explain to the judge why this is so. I am prepared for the worst consequences, however. I did a bad thing.

    I have never committed a crime. I was a journalist and knew all the police and sheriff's men in the small town I came from. This is so out of character! I want to show the owners of the store that I care. That I'm repentant. I'm writing them a letter. It's all so terrible. I don't know what I can do that would or could matter at this point. Please help me figure out what to do next. I have no idea.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    Behind a Desk
    Posts
    98,846

    Default Re: I've never shoplifted before, and I got caught!

    I would suggest consulting a criminal defense lawyer or, if you qualify, a court appointed lawyer.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    San Antonio, TX
    Posts
    121

    Default Re: I've never shoplifted before, and I got caught!

    The fact that your boyfriend was abusive and you were taking medicen may have played a role in your reason for commiting the theft, however i don't see it's enough to be considered a defense(if that's where you were going with it). You would only be considered "criminally insane" or "temporarilly insane" if you did not understand the fact that your actions were wrong, or could not control your actions. The fact that you concealed the merchandise negates any type of insanity defense. If you didn't know the wrong in your actions, you wouldn't have bothered to conceal them. Now, the fact that you are starting back on the right path going to church and everything, and showing remorse will greatly affect your sentencing. Judges like to see people who show remorse and are trying to better their lives. I would suggest getting a lawyer, if you can afford one or qualify for a court appointed lawyer.

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