Shoplifting, Larceny, Robbery, Theft My 16yr old son was charged with petty theft

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rtfMadison

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My son was caught shoplifting this week for an item under 50$ and it is his first offense. He is now charged with petty theft and on the ticket the officer gave us we are scheduled to go to court in two months. Since it was his first offense and the item was under 50$ as noted on the ticket will we be sent a courtesy notice? If we do not receive a courtesy notice can we call the given number and request to pay for the fine without showing up? My wife and I want to avoid going to court and pay for it by mail. As for the consequences he was banned from the mall for a year unless accompanied by us.

Other details about the ticket we were given the officer marked it as a misdemeanor and checked out the juvenile traffic box rather then the juvenile criminal box. As for details about my son he has no criminal background as this is his first offense. Since he is 16 and underage will the court search up my background? My major concern is that they will find out that I am not a citizen of the U.S. niether is my wife. We have absolutely no criminal background and we are currently waiting to get our green crads in 3 years. My son was born in the U.S. so he is already a U.S. citizen when he was charged with petty theft.

As for my son he deeply regrets what he has done and now understands our current situation. He will be paying for the fine and we will be keeping a closer eye on him from now on as this was a wake-up call for all of us.
 
Your sons poor decision has placed you all at risk. You need to talk to a lawyer many offer free consultations so get as many as you can. Just paying the fine will result in a criminal record for your son and will not protect you from immigration. Nor will our standard reply of seeking Diversion. Where there is a chance no one will discover your immigration status its not a sure thing and since your son now has a court date its very possible this could be discovered. Once again seek legal advice from some local Attorneys to see how best to protect your family
 
What state is this?

If this is California and he has been charged with PC 490.1 (petty theft infraction) then this makes sense that it will be in traffic court as opposed to Juvenile Court.

As an infraction, he will not be arrested and immigration status may never be n issue raised in a CA court.

It might be a good idea to consult an attorney all the same so as to protect your immigration status, but if this was cited as the infraction in CA then there should not be a problem.
 
The state we live in is California and he was charged with pc 490.1 Although on ticket between the two options of circling Misdemeanor or infraction (M or I) The officer circled M. Will immagration status still not be brought up?

My close friend informed me that all we may need to do is go into court and pay for the ticket/fine and that'll be all. Also there should be no reason to do a background check on me or my wife.
 
The officer may not have been entirely aware of PC 490.1 being an infraction.

If taken care of traffic court, that may b the end of the court matter after paying a fine (or winning at a court trial if he wants to try that ..)

However, the merchant can also make a civil demand of between $50 and $500 (usually about $300) that he will have to pay them or face the possibility of the matter going to small claims court or collections and potentially costing more down the road.
 
A relative of my close friend works as a lawyer and she told him that there should be no reason for them to check our backgrounds unless we have acted suspicious or strange to them for them to do so.

As for the officer not knowing it should have been a infraction I checked the ticket once more and there seems to be a number between the pc490 and 1 on the ticket. Should I post a scanned image of ticket? Ofcourse all personal information will be blurred out for safety measures.
 
If it is scheduled for a traffic court, then it should not be a misdemeanor.

And, as I said, i doubt there will be any reason for immigration to be involved - especially if this is resolved in a traffic court.

You can always consult an attorney to be safe. If an infraction he can likely simply pay it off.
 
It seems as though we are scheduled to attend a juvenile traffice room which makes it all the more confusing for me to understand what will happen or what we will have to go through.
 
Madison said:
Here is a scanned image of the ticket we recieved. I have cut out the top, middle, and bottom part that contain the details that I have trouble understanding such as the penal code the officer wrote and that we are appointed to go to traffic court.

http://i1099.photobucket.com/albums/g38 ... ited-1.jpg
Click to expand...
It looks like PC 490.1(a). The offense is most often charged as an infraction, but can be charged as a misdemeanor. However, if sent to juvenile TRAFFIC court, it is almost certainly going to be brought up as an infraction.

490.1. (a) Petty theft, where the value of the money, labor, real
or personal property taken is of a value which does not exceed fifty
dollars ($50), may be charged as a misdemeanor or an infraction, at
the discretion of the prosecutor, provided that the person charged
with the offense has no other theft or theft-related conviction.
(b) Any offense charged as an infraction under this section shall
be subject to the provisions of subdivision (d) of Section 17 and
Sections 19.6 and 19.7.
A violation which is an infraction under this section is
punishable by a fine not exceeding two hundred fifty dollars ($250).
 
Thank you for clearing up the penal code on the traffic ticket. So now there should'nt be any reason for my immigration status to be checked right? Since it is clarified that it will be in a traffic court. Also will they send us anything such as courtesy notice notifying us about the amount of the fine? We want to know if we can pay for it without needing to appear in court unless it is necessary to do so incase we can have it turn into an infraction rather then a misdemeanor.
 
Thank you for answering my previous questions.

Today we recieved a settlement offer from store name in the mail that states "We ask that you settle this matter by making payment to us in the amount of $350.00 within twenty days of the date of this letter" When we pay for this do we still need to appear in court? As Cdwjava stated we will need to pay a fine as well and this settlement offer. So in the end we will have to pay for two things correct?

Also i read that my son may have to stay in a juvenile prison like place. Is that true? This is his first offense while still underage and the stolen item was under $50 so there should be no reason for them to send him to such thing right? Especially if we pay for the said things.
 
I suspect that "fine" is unrelated to court and is civil demand. Civil Demand is unrelated to court so if this is a civil demand letter then yes he still must go to court. Who is the letter from and what does it say exactly?
 
This is on the first page


This is on the second page of FAQ's

Should I call the court regarding wether or not I still need to attend after paying this?
Also where can we get free consoltations? Is there a recommended website or phoneline?
 
For your protection I removed the photos you posted (they name store) I did see them though. This is the civil claim and has nothing to do with court
 
My apologies I thought I had censored them thank you very much for deleting them. How can we get the court to settle this as an infraction? I have been told this should've have been an infraction from the start since my son has no prior theft convictions and the item was under $50 but that it also rests up to prosecution.
 
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