Asked 5/23/2016 – Sachse, TX

17 years old in Texas & a friend & I were in Walmart. She stole about $34 dollars’ worth of cosmetic items and she had asked me to take a lip gloss for her. I did. Walking out of the store we got stopped by CS (I think) and went into a room with them. They told us to empty our 2 separate purses (mine only containing the lip gloss) & said they were going to press charges on us and that Walmart could sue us. Said we would have a misdemeanor C theft under 50. Police were called, we weren’t arrested. We each got separate tickets and would be called to get our date to show up in court with parent. Apparently I’m on video tape (didn’t see) and the lady saw my friend. My first offense only had a traffic ticket for failure to turn off bright. I don’t think I can have a lawyer. Never gotten into any trouble before, stupid mistake, never planning on doing it again, but the CS people said I couldn’t work in the medical field, get a job in retail/govt, work with personal items, get financial aid for college with this on my record. I’m willing to do anything to not have a conviction or anything on my record

Answer

Whatever you do, do NOT just send a check to the court and pay the fine. This would cause a judgment of guilty and a final conviction on your criminal record. This is a crime of moral turpitude, and a final conviction on this type of case would affect you for the rest of your life. Contact a local attorney, who would originally enter a plea of not guilty, which would then allow negotiations with the prosecutor; the plea could be changed and a trial avoided if a plea bargain could be reached that avoids a conviction.