Shoplifting, Larceny, Robbery, Theft This can't be legal

[Volcanburu]

So I'm at a strip mall with some friends. We were carring several magazines. We didn't have a bag for the magazines so a friend of mine got a couple of bags from a nearby store. We put the magazines into a bags (keep in mind we're on the sidewalk not in a store) and a cop asks us what we just put in the bag. We told him they were magazines and he grabbed the bags to look inside. I told him I didn't consent to a search. He told me he had probable cause to suspect me of shoplifting because shoplifters get bags from different stores to carry there stolen goods. I was unable to prove that I purchased the magazines so one of my friends and I were both charged with misdemeanor shoplifting.


Was what he did legal?

 

[jacksgal]

It was totally legal and I suspect you will be found guilty of shoplifting. You need an Attorney

 

[CdwJava]

I suspect he - or someone - also saw you put the magazines in the bags.

Sorry, but I don't think a jury or a judge will buy that tale. Talk to your attorney and find out what kind of deal the DA might be willing to put on the table. Unless the prosecution's case is completely without cause, a deal may be the only thing to keep you out of jail. If you had not yet left the store, there MIGHT be a chance that the state will have no case (depending on the law in your state you might have to leave the store first to be guilty of shoplifting).

- Carl

 

[Volcanburu]

I suspect he - or someone - also saw you put the magazines in the bags.

Sorry, but I don't think a jury or a judge will buy that tale. Talk to your attorney and find out what kind of deal the DA might be willing to put on the table. Unless the prosecution's case is completely without cause, a deal may be the only thing to keep you out of jail. If you had not yet left the store, there MIGHT be a chance that the state will have no case (depending on the law in your state you might have to leave the store first to be guilty of shoplifting).

- Carl

We were out of the store and a couple stores down just walking on the sidewalk with the magazines in our hands then we put them into a plastic bag. The cop only saw us put the magazines into a bag.

 

[jacksgal]

Again your tale does not suggest innocence. You are free to fight this charge but if found guilty expect no plea bargain

 

[doubleuppro]

In order for there to be probable cause, there had to be a prior complaint of shoplifting, around the time you were caught, and identified by an employee of the establishment. People who shoot people often buy guns, but that isn't probable cause enough to harass everyone who own a gun.....there had to be a specific complaint, in the vicinity, with a matching description of someone in your party. Otherwise it was totally without cause, and anything you said or did as a result of the search can be tossed out as being "fruits of a poisonous tree" as seen in "Fruit of the Poisonous Tree Doctrine, 62 Indiana L.J. 1061 (1987)".

 

[seniorjudge]

If the judge has been on the bench for more than 17 minutes, he's already heard that story.

:no:

 

[CdwJava]

We were out of the store and a couple stores down just walking on the sidewalk with the magazines in our hands then we put them into a plastic bag. The cop only saw us put the magazines into a bag.

So ... were you able to produce a receipt for the magazines? Or, are you alleging that you carried the magazines with you to the mall?

It still may be reasonable to assume you stole the magazines depending on what the officer saw or was told. You are free to take the matter to court and challenge the detention and the charges.

- Carl

 

[CdwJava]

In order for there to be probable cause, there had to be a prior complaint of shoplifting, around the time you were caught, and identified by an employee of the establishment.

Not entirely true.

People who shoot people often buy guns, but that isn't probable cause enough to harass everyone who own a gun.....

True enough.

there had to be a specific complaint, in the vicinity, with a matching description of someone in your party.

Again, not entirely true.

Otherwise it was totally without cause, and anything you said or did as a result of the search can be tossed out as being "fruits of a poisonous tree"

Only if a court rules that the detention was without "reasonable (or 'articulable') suspicion" and the search was without "probable cause". Probable cause may be developed in ways OTHER than a "prior complaint" and an eyewitness to the shoplifting.


- Carl

 

[jacksgal]

These magazines were pruchased when? If shortley before stop then the clerk at store should be able to confirm purchae. If not then you have the tough time of explaining why you are carrying around magzines while shopping? Unless you can prove the magazines were paid for you cant win this fight in my opinion.