I am going to court for petty larceny in Feb, I don't know whether to plead guilty or not guilty.?

Question

I am Guilty of this charge, this item was worth $25.00. This is my first offense. What is going to happen? What should I plead? I want to be a school teacher and I don't think it can be on my record? Please help.

I was in a department store w/ my younger sister the other day. She found a $25.00 ring that she liked and decided to take it. She told me about it just as we were walking towards the doors of the store and handed it to me. Without thinking, I looked at the ring in my hand knowing it was stolen, yet still took the few extra steps out of the store. It was split second and I was not thinking correctly. I was cited and have a court date. I am abviously Guilty of this charge. This is my first offense. What is going to happen? What should I plead? I want to be a school teacher and I don't think it can be on my record? Please help.

Answer 1

First get a lawyer. Most likely he will have you plead guilty to a Statement of facts. All this means is the prosecutor will read or the police officer will read the facts into the court record. Your attorney will then accept the facts before the judge. your attorney will then give the judge background information about you and the good kind of person you are and ask for something called Probation before Judgment for a first offense. You may or may not receive this. What you will be required to do if you get it is to pay a large fine, perform community service of XX amount of hours. If you keep your nose clean from then on - This will not go on your record, however if you should do something foolish like this a second time - this crime and the one you are arrested for will go on your record.

Answer 2

I was in court with a friend last week and before the judge began seeing cases, he informed everyone that they had three options to plead: guilty, not guilty, and guilty with an explanation. I had never heard the third before, but he said if you plead guilty with an explanation, depending on what explanation you give, the penalties could be lowered. I don't know if this is always an option or if it's only in some states (I'm in NJ) but if you are able, I would recommend pleading this, given your situation. If you plead guilty, it seems like you intended to take the ring without paying for it and are a thief, which it sounds like is not the case. If you plead not guilty, you're saying you didn't do it but I'm sure they have proof you did, or you'd have to make something up to defend yourself and you'd be found guilty anyway. Plead guilty with an explanation if you have that option, and explain what you explained to us. Good luck.

Answer 3

Get an attorney and find out what the penalty in your State for petty larceny is.

Are you an adult or a juvenile? If you are a juvenile, definitely plead guilty; your record is not public and no one will ever know. If you are an adult, consult your attorney about the evidence against you. One option might be to plead "No contest" which means that they have enough evidence against you, but you do not want to admit guilt.

Again, you really need to consult your attorney, not a bunch of us on Yahoo Answers - I don't think we have enough information to give you totally sound advice (yet here I am hitting "submit").

Answer 4

Talk to the prosecutor about a first offenders status. If you stay out of trouble then the charges would be dismissed after a set amount of time. The prosecutor would probably look at your past behavior. This might be a good questions for the lawyers. Also, if you are under 18 years of age, in most states, the charge is actually a deliquent act and the crime, depending on the severity, is often sealed after 18 years of age. On the other hand, don't be stealin' if you want to be a teacher.

Answer 5

Ok, you did it. You are guilty. If you plead not guilty and are convicted, you will not get a favorable sentence. Get with your lawyer and the DA in charge of your case and see about pre-trial diversion. Offer to make restitution and to do community service to keep it from going on your record.

If you can't get a deal, they probably have a good case against you. You have three possiblities.
1) You plead not guilty and risk trial. You lose and you owe court costs, etc.
2) Plead guilty, offer restitution, apologize, and hope for the best.
3) Plead no contest, and hope for the best.

If I were you, I would try for the pre-trial and if that fails, plead guilty and hope for the best.

Answer 6

First off, get a lawyer. Petit Larceny should be a misdeameanor, so you may be able to plead it down to a violation (non criminal offense) Thats important. You don't want theft on your record. People look down on that and teaching is one of those jobs.
A decent lawyer may be able to get you a really good deal, maybe even a dismissal ,if you stay clean for a year or something. DO NOT PLEAD TO THE LARCENY! You will regret it. Get a lawyer. Get a plea.

Answer 7

Well then, you might want to have your lawyer work things out with the prosecuter to cut you a deal beforehand. If you cant, then plead guilty and face the music. You will sleep better in the end. You may have to change your career though. You should have thought to yourself, "gee is taking this worth not having a future" before you did so...

Answer 8

Unless you have grounds to fight the charge, then plead guilty. You can hire an attorney and have it expunged if it is going to harm your carreer.

Did you know that you wanted to be a school teacher when you were out stealing things?

Answer 9

Plead guilty. Show remorse. And seeing how it was your first offense you'll probably get community service and a fine.

Answer 10

plead 'no contest'

u will probably get deffered ajudicated probation

after a few years you can have the record expunged by an attorney if it is a class a, b or c missdemeanor.