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In other words, what are the chances you can get prosecuted for petty theft as a first offense and come out of it without a record?

What if you don't care how much you have to pay to make it "go away"? Will what you're talking about get you a criminal record? That's a bigger problem than loss of money now because the criminal record will get your future job applications rejected.

The punishment is short term. In the long term, the criminal record is more important. If your jurisdiction has pre-trial diversion or deferred adjudication, how easy is it to get it if you don't have a lawyer help you?

If you were caught in the act, whether or not Miranda rights were read to you won't really matter to you. They have enough evidence as it is. I spoke to a defense attorney who told me that if you were not read your rights, you can't really argue because it's your word against the officer's. If...

When to get deferred adjudication Your first court date is the arraignment, where you plea. If you plea nolo contendere or guilty, you get sentenced, and you have a criminal record. If you plea not guilty, you will have a trial date set and the prosecutor will plea bargain with you before that...

Getting the best they can offer I was caught shoplifting $19 worth of stuff at Wal-mart in Louisiana a month ago. I spoke to two defense attorneys and decided to hire one. It cost me $750 to hire him. I paid $200 to Wal-mart for their civil demand. The advantage of hiring a lawyer is that...

You should ask the court about it. You don't want to leave and find out that it was illegal to do so. Ignorance of the law isn't a defense, I don't think.

I would ask the court to pull up your file and tell you exactly how they are keeping track of those specific restrictions. It sounds to me that the court is just being very lenient with you, and any time you are driving can be explained away as an errand you are running for your grandmother...

I spoke with a defense attorney about my case (in Louisiana), and he told me an infraction would show up on a criminal record, so getting into diversion is still the best option. Do infractions differ from state to state?

I spoke to an attorney today and was told that I seem eligible for pretrial diversion, which would result in no conviction upon completion and restitution. He mentioned one detail that has me worried. The prosecutor may call the complainant, Wal-mart, and ask them if they are satisfied with...

I hate it when people don't update their situation because I'll just assume they're sitting in jail right now, a year after they posted. That doesn't help my constant worrying about my own similar situation.

I don't know if anyone will bother responding, but here's another piece of info. I've heard that a burglary charge can be made if they can prove intent before entering the store. Well I obtained the police report and the officer claims that I "admitted" to bringing empty shopping bags into the...

You are lucky, snowbird. I am in a predicament with Wal-mart, who had an officer detain me once I stepped outside their store (in fact, I was led out the door by their loss protection agent right to the officer). They handed me right over to the law without any time in between, and Wal-mart...

If you have a court date, there are already criminal charges against you. I called my Wal-mart store a day after being caught by security and charged by the officer, and they told me that it can no longer be retracted since the sheriff's department has already written it up. If this is your...

The state is Louisiana. I am 22 years old. I will give you an account of what happened to me: I was caught leaving Wal-mart Supercenter, 5110 Jefferson Highway, Harahan, with a shopping bag of goods totalling $18.75 without having paid for them. I was approached by a loss protection...