Asked 8/17/2016 – Houston, TX

My son was arrested at Macy’s for shoplifting after police arrived they found him in possession of marijuana. We went to court and only charged for the marijuana. He was given 1yr probation has been successful so far now 2 days after turning 17 he’s being charged with shoplifting from Macys. My wife and I did receive a letter claiming we owed Macy’s $350 the lawyer my son had a public defender said ignore it we did now’s he’s going to court

Answer

The civil demand letter for $350 you received from a private law office does not have anything to do with criminal prosecution. Macy’s can file a civil action for damages against shoplifters as well as file incident reports with the police in order to institute criminal charges. I would bring whatever documents you have regarding the 2nd case to an attorney to find out exactly what is going on.