Retail Fraud / Shoplifting: Petty Theft, First Time Offense in the State of California

lundi 23 mars 2015

My question involves criminal law for the state of: California



Hi there, recently I did something extremely stupid in the wishes of popularity and fitting in. I stole $71 worth of make up from a Sephora that was located inside of JC Penney. On my way out, a Loss Preventions officer approached me and pulled my into an office with his female co-worker. They went through my things and found the stolen items. Yes, I know it was wrong and stupid and will follow me around for a while making my life difficult. During the process in their office, they made the people I was with wait outside. I admitted to the Loss Preventions officer my crime because they had hard evidence and I felt that just trying to fight it all would waste their time and make me look even worse. They took down all my information and finally what was left to do was wait for the police officer. While waiting for the police officer, another person had been pulled in for theft too, she was much older than I and it was clear that she had stolen much more than I did, the Loss Preventions officers used a lot of profanity towards her in front of me, does that do anything or help in any way? I am only 15 years old and I do not even live in the state of California, I am only visiting, once again I understand what I did was incredibly stupid and I am ready to accept all my consequences and will never be doing something so stupid again. When the police officer came she wrote down a citation for me and gave me a court date, she told me to try and go to court the very next day to settle it due to the fact that I was leaving to go back to school soon. She had written it down as a misdemeanor. They took a picture of all the things I stole, my possessions and a picture of me. When I got to the court office, they said I could not go to court bc the officer had not submitted my files yet and there was nothing that I could do yet. I was very cooperative the ENTIRE time and did not try to run or anything, I was as polite as I could be. The whole process lasted around two hours. So my questions are;



Is there any way I could plea for an infraction even though it was $71? Is the offer of Petty Theft Diversion possible? Taking community service? Lowering the charges?

Do I need a lawyer? Bc I'm unsure I can afford one and is a public defender enough?

Will it be difficult for me to push back my court date bc I will not be in state and still at school?

Will I be able to expunge this from my record eventually?

Even though I am a juvenile, the officer had checked the location to go to as the superior court where adult cases are taken, why?



I am shameful for my actions and I regret them very much, please believe me when I say that I am pretty terrified right now. Any help given is MUCH appreciated, thank you for taking your time to read and help.





Retail Fraud / Shoplifting: Petty Theft, First Time Offense in the State of California

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