rtfHelloKitty
New Member
Recently, two of my friends and I (all 18/19 years old) went on a road trip and were caught shoplifting at a department store in the state of Georgia. The store manager stopped us in the middle of the mall (about 15-20 min. after we had left the store), and asked us to return back to the store to return his merchandise. He told us that once we returned the merchandise, we would be free to go. Since we were completely scared and embarrassed, we believed him and followed him to a back room where two LPs were waiting for us. They separated us into two cells, told us to leave our bags outside, and searched through our purses. After they recovered their merchandise (which totaled under $150), they took our IDs and recorded our information. They also confiscated a few items we had taken from another store, and told us they would return those items without identifying us.
Then we had to sign paperwork and were put into their computer database. Each of us was issued $150 in civil demand fees, which I paid on the spot. We were also interrogated during all of this (which lasted almost 2 hours) and then referred to a cop who came in, interrogated us, arrested us, and dropped us off with a sheriff who transported us to the county jail. We were then placed in a holding cell where we waited over 23 hours to be processed (fingerprinted and everything). Then we were bonded/bailed out by my friends sister. Everything was so real and scary that I had never been so terrified in my life.
After we were released, we were told our court date would arrive in the mail, but none of us has received it yet. I know that the three of us need lawyers ASAP and that we all have received at least 10+ mail ads from lawyers in that county, but none of us has the finances to afford a personal lawyer. At this point we don't know what to do.
We were each charged with a misdemeanor: theft by shoplifting. This is my first time with a criminal offense. Will we be tried separately or together? Is there any possible way to have this expunged from my records (with/without an attorney's help)? What is our likely punishment? These are some of the questions that wont stop running through my head.
I've recorded nearly everything I can remember regarding my case on a word document, so please, please give me advice on what to do and dont be afraid to ask for more information about my situation. My friends and I are all college students and we dont mind doing community service, taking classes, or even being on probation as long as we dont get jail time. We also desperately want this to be removed from our records. This experience has absolutely been a wake-up call for us, and we just want to get our lives back on track and stop doing stupid illegal things that get us into trouble.
Also, (although I do not know if this is relevant) my friends and I witnessed some LEOs performing acts which we believe should be illegal and did not know if reporting them would help anything. Namely, the officer who arrested us did not read us any rights, frisked my friend (he is male and my friend is female), and the sheriff who transported us was texting his wife while driving and swerved twice on the road. We also felt it was unfair that we were made to wait over 23 hours in the jail for us to be processed and when other offenders were booked, processed, and released all in under 6 hours.
Thank you for anyone who can give me advice!!
Then we had to sign paperwork and were put into their computer database. Each of us was issued $150 in civil demand fees, which I paid on the spot. We were also interrogated during all of this (which lasted almost 2 hours) and then referred to a cop who came in, interrogated us, arrested us, and dropped us off with a sheriff who transported us to the county jail. We were then placed in a holding cell where we waited over 23 hours to be processed (fingerprinted and everything). Then we were bonded/bailed out by my friends sister. Everything was so real and scary that I had never been so terrified in my life.
After we were released, we were told our court date would arrive in the mail, but none of us has received it yet. I know that the three of us need lawyers ASAP and that we all have received at least 10+ mail ads from lawyers in that county, but none of us has the finances to afford a personal lawyer. At this point we don't know what to do.
We were each charged with a misdemeanor: theft by shoplifting. This is my first time with a criminal offense. Will we be tried separately or together? Is there any possible way to have this expunged from my records (with/without an attorney's help)? What is our likely punishment? These are some of the questions that wont stop running through my head.
I've recorded nearly everything I can remember regarding my case on a word document, so please, please give me advice on what to do and dont be afraid to ask for more information about my situation. My friends and I are all college students and we dont mind doing community service, taking classes, or even being on probation as long as we dont get jail time. We also desperately want this to be removed from our records. This experience has absolutely been a wake-up call for us, and we just want to get our lives back on track and stop doing stupid illegal things that get us into trouble.
Also, (although I do not know if this is relevant) my friends and I witnessed some LEOs performing acts which we believe should be illegal and did not know if reporting them would help anything. Namely, the officer who arrested us did not read us any rights, frisked my friend (he is male and my friend is female), and the sheriff who transported us was texting his wife while driving and swerved twice on the road. We also felt it was unfair that we were made to wait over 23 hours in the jail for us to be processed and when other offenders were booked, processed, and released all in under 6 hours.
Thank you for anyone who can give me advice!!
