I'm 20 years old, and on a whim, I took some fashion jewelry from Macy's. Then I headed to JC Penney and took some more. However, I felt guilty and decided that I would go back to Macy's, return the stuff, and then double back to JC Penney to the same. I didn't want to return the JC Penney things immediately because I didn't want to draw attention to myself. I was caught by JC Penney security, had my picture taken and the police came. I have never done anything like this before and am incredibly shaken from the ordeal. My court date is coming up, and I wanted to know if there's any way to get this removed from my record and prevent a conviction...I really wasn't planning on taking the things home and had no one interfered everything would have been returned. Security told me I'm going to be fined five times the value of the taken merchandise (I took $43 worth); can I be charged that much? Also, how much are court fees? I live in New York.
2006-12-31 12:30:59 · 5 answers · asked by ky515 1 in Politics & Government ➔ Law & Ethics
Do the crime, do the time/fine.
Maybe you will think next time?
Don't expect much sympathy.
2006-12-31 12:33:26 · answer #1 · answered by woundbyte 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Well its probably going to take a lawyer to bargain it for you. representing yourself you can do but you do have a greater chance with legal representation. If you wanna spend the money.
The plea of abeyance someone else described is an option you can try on your own or with representation.
Now im not sure on New York law but I know many states at least have laws about criminal records as such that even if convicted you can petition for it to be expunged if you go a certain amount of years with no criminal charges.
Here for something like that its I believe 5 years for that kind of a crime ( I believe anywehre from 4-10 years depending on the crime ). And you dont need a lawyer to petition the expungement.
federal crimes can never be expunged.
2006-12-31 13:04:00 · answer #2 · answered by sociald 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Assumming you have a clean record, you have a good chance of getting deferred adjudication on this one. Basically they give you a fine and a probation (which you'll probably get anyway) and then if you stay out of trouble during that time, the conviction goes off your record.
I wouldn't go on about how you'd changed your mind and were going to return the stuff. The judge will think you're trying to blow smoke up his azz and may come down even harder on you. Just say you don't know why you did it and you're very sorry and you'll never do it again.
2006-12-31 12:43:18 · answer #3 · answered by Jadalina 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Petty larceny is a misdemeanor. If you would have taken anything in excess of 100 bucks you would have been in a whole lot worse situation. The judge is going to give you a warning and make you pay court costs, and a fine. A misdemeanor can be removed by a good lawyer. It's going to cost you about 6000 bucks to get it removed or Expunged.
2006-12-31 12:34:55 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Criminally, no. In civil terms, you've got bigger problems than just giving the friend a dollar back. Courts are very accepting of ex post damage analyses as opposed to ex ante analyses, so... If the friend decided to take the civil route to cure his/her harm, that $1 million plus pre & post judgment interest, fees and costs of court would be leaving your account and going directly back to your friend's account.
2016-05-23 01:33:40 · answer #5 · answered by Victoria 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋