third degree theft

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Jerry2die4

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so on july 31st 2012 i was caught stealing about 50 dollars worth of stuff from walmart. im really freaking out and i wanna know what the average punishent is. im 19 this is my first offence and i havnt done anything like this before. please any help would be great. also any tips like what not to say and if i should hire a lawyer would be great. thanks.
 
Jerry2die4 said:
so on july 31st 2012 i was caught stealing about 50 dollars worth of stuff from walmart. im really freaking out and i wanna know what the average punishent is. im 19 this is my first offence and i havnt done anything like this before. please any help would be great. also any tips like what not to say and if i should hire a lawyer would be great. thanks.
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Say nothing, YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO REMAIN SILENT, use it!!!!

If you have blabbed, forget about it for the moment.

You can't unring the bell after it peals.

When you appear in court, be dressed professionally, be on time, and follow all rules (the bailiff will tell everyone "do's" and "don'ts").

When your turn comes, address the judge as your honer, sir, or ma'am.

Plead not guilty and ask the court to appoint a lawyer to represent you, if that is allowed in yoru state.
If not, ask the court for time to hire an attorney.
You'll be given time to retain one, if they don't appoint one to represent you.
Either way, they'll give you rules to follow, simply do everything they direct.
Once you meet your lawyer, do as he or she instructs.

If things are as you described, you'll end up on probation or deferred sentencing.
You'll pay a fine and some fees (payment plans are available).
You might be given community service, and you will be given more rules.
You do EVERYTHING required, keep your nose clean, and eventually the entire incident will be wiped clean!!!
 
Jerry2die4 said:
im 19 this is my first offence and i havnt done anything like this before.
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Call me a pessimist- but I highly doubt those statements. I suspect it is more likely you have not been caught before now.

Anyway- were the police called, and was a report taken, or did the store handle this on their own?

If a police report was taken then follow whatever instructions you were given, or that you will receive, to appear in court. Do not make any statements to the police, which hopefully you have not already done. You can hire a private attorney prior to this time or request one when you get to court. talk to nobody but your attorney and watch everything magically go away, or at most be handled at the simplest level possible.

f the police were not called you will likely start receiving demand letters from WalMart that you pay some fee in the neighborhood of a few hundred dollars as a penalty. Personally I would not pay their fee, and probably could not afford to if I was stealing in the first place, and would simply ignore them. Others will tell you that you should pay the fee or else WalMart may then pursue criminal charges and you might face higher fines, but I think in cases like this it is a bunch of horse pucky. They won't likely waste a lot of time and money on a lawsuit to require you to pay fees they know you don't have money to pay... they would just be flushing money down the toilet and that isn't very efficient. If you had something more serious going on here then I would be more concerned. Your choice though... pay money you don't have or don't pay what you can't afford, it is up to you.

At the WORST you would be looking at paying fines. I doubt you would even come away from this with a criminal record as it would likely be handled as an infraction for a first offense petty theft.
 
Depending on the recovery firm hired to seek the fine mentioned they can take a very agressive stance towards collecting. If so there are expensive an dlong term negative effects that could result. The real question is are you a gambler? I have dealt with these firms in the course of my work and talked to some of the staff of these firms. many take collecting very serious. You already gambled on stealing and lost you want to gamble more and see this hundred dollar fine turn into thousands? do you want a negative report filed in your credit report? do you want store to file criminal charges they didnt file at time? Do you want your fine to triple? Its up to you. Yes Mighty was likely referring to me as person to say pay it. Its state law to fine these fines they ar legal to collect this meanslaw is on their side not yours.
 
shrinkmaster said:
Yes Mighty was likely referring to me as person to say pay it. Its state law to fine these fines they ar legal to collect this meanslaw is on their side not yours.
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I wasn't referring to you specifically... I just know that there is general disagreement among those who usually reply to the topic. It seems in this case, so far there is no demand anyway.
 
the police were not called they had me give my name phone number and address and a letter stating that i may have to go to court pay a fine of the amount stolen and a fee of no less then 100 dollars and no more than 650 and that i will also be required to pay all resonable court and defendants lawyer fees but i dont remember it saying that i will be required to go to court, and the security guards told me that their lawyers would be sending me a letter in the mail about two weeks after the incident occured.
 
Ya, you will be getting a demand letter. It won't matter that they got their $50 merchandise back and have no loss, they will demand you pay something in the neighborhood of $200-300 as a penalty. Supposedly this is to recoup the loss of other thefts which you are not even responsible for.
You can pay the demand and be done with this. If you pay it you will not go to court. Payment of the fee effectively makes it a civil matter rather than criminal.
If you do not pay the fee there is the potential that they will make a criminal report and you could potentially have to go to court. It is still petty theft and would be handled in a low-level way, but you could be ordered to still pay the demanded amount, or more, or even less if their demand is not reasonable (which it won't be).

Personally I would not pay the demand (mainly because the amounts they demand are ridiculous) but it is your choice. Just know that if you do not pay it there is the possibility things can progress further.
 
When you receive the letter it will likely give a time frame. If you do not pay by that date there is a chance they will proceed with the criminal report.
You are not required to pay anything until a judge orders you to do so.
 
For your sake please ignore that last comment. Yes you are not required to pay until a Judge orders you. However if your force the service to take it to court you will face much larger fines, (thousands) court costs, legal fees, ruined credit,possible criminal filing. so i ask you is it worth it? Remember Civil Demand is "State law" you cant win!
 
Jerry- do your own research regarding civil demand letters in your state and make an informed decision as to whether or not you want to pay.
 
It is absurd to suggest that he may face fees in the thousands of dollars over this. I believe that most people who pay these demands do so out of an irrational fear of unlikely and exaggerated consequences. I believe the only time it may be beneficial for someone to pay the demand is when they have a prior record.

If OP does a little research on the topic he will find that most agree he can ignore it without consequence, though it would be smart of him to consult a local attorney before doing so.
 
Cleary you have not dealt with nor talked to people who have need sued etc. Where I agree less than half go this far it does happen an dits a huge gamle to do so. Frankly I am surprised that you a law Enforcement officer support ignoring state law even if it is just a civil law. Just to add if the firm seeking payment is Palmer and Reifler I would be even more sure to pay as they have a rep for agreesively seeking these funds.
 
I am not telling anyone to ignore the law.
A civil demand letter carries no legal weight whatsoever. There is no legal obligation to pay it. The civil demand law simply gives the involved parties a method to handle petty issues without tying up the court.
With an attorney's assistance, a case such as this would still most likely be reduced to an infraction as a petty first offense, and any fine/fees could be negotiated and minimized.
 
The Civil Demand is separate from the criminal matter. It is possible that BOTH could be applied. However, in this case - since the police were not called - it is likely that you will face ONLY the civil demand.

As previously indicated, a failure to pay the civil demand could result in the matter being referred to prosecution. I know that in CA this is rare, but it might occur more often in WA. But, if you do NOT pay, the matter can and often will be referred to collections. If it goes to collections, you can count on paying the original demand plus about $500 more. Yes, it is possible that they will bluff and bluster and go away ... but, how big a gambler are you? Failure to pay and having the matter go to collections can also result in a devastating hit to your credit rating.

And, if you signed any documentation at the store, it is possible that you signed an agreement to pay the civil demand.
 
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