i just did a most stupid thing ever i don't know what i had been thinking. i stole the jewelry cost $315.00. i been caught and be arrested one night at the keller police office . MOm and dad bailed me out. i am so worry . i never be such a bad person, never been arrested or involved in any crime. i am wondering if my crime at this time will be in my theft record ?. i am 20. i am going to school right now, it's engineering major. I've just received the letter from the court telling me to go to the court.Now i don't have any lawyer.i did tell the police i need a free lawyer , but untill now i didn't hear anything from them. Next thursday will be my court day, so I will go there by myself without a lawyer or i need to have one? i am wondering if hiring a lawyer will be better than free lawyer and no lawyer. i dont want to waste money to hire a lawyer if i still have the theft record.any idea where i can hire good lawyer? please help.im in Fort worth , Texas.
2007-12-27 12:47:35 · 4 answers · asked by hoang b 2 in Politics & Government ➔ Law Enforcement & Police
The police will not give you a lawyer for court. They will provide one for questioning, but not for court. If you want a lawyer, you will need to hire one yourself, or request a public defender when you appear.
As far as your record, it is too late for that. If you are convicted, the record will be permanent. You could apply for an expungment, but you can not do that right away. You need to prove yourself first.
2007-12-27 14:52:10 · answer #1 · answered by trooper3316 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
People make mistakes, it's not the end of the world. One underlying question would be, why did you take the jewelry. Is there something else here that has caused you to make a poor choice. Drug or alcohol abuse? financial difficulty? If there is something else, then it should be addressed as well. at any rate, you should have an attorney. Not sure about Texas but most states will require you to make several court appearances. The first date is usually an initial appearance date, where the court informs you of the charges against you and gets you the proper paperwork to apply for a court appointed attorney. A court appointed attorney can serve you well, you just have to keep in mind that they are inundated with a lot of cases and tend to get tunnel vision about getting their clients cases through the court system as quickly as possible so they can move on to the next client. Your best case scenario, since you are willing to accept responsiblity for this poor choice, is to attempt to work out a plea agreement for a defered sentence. This allows you to be placed on a probationary period, sometimes supervised, sometimes unsupervised. At the end of your defered sentence you can, and should, have the record expunged. This doesn't happen automatically, as most think. You will actually have to petition the court. You can do this on your own if you can get a blanked out motion to expunge from your court clerks office, then fill in the blanks with your information. Keep in mind that this information may still show up on NCIC computer records checks after your record has been expunged from your court clerks files. Your district attorney has to file the necessary paperwork to get it removed from the NCIC records, if they are willing to do that. If not then you will need to be diligent when applying for a job and if asked "have you ever been convicted of a crime" you can honestly say "no" if asked " have you ever been arrested?" then you must be honest and say "yes", but explain the situation. anyone doing a criminal background check that's worth their salt will know that an NCIC record must be confirmed by contacting the court clerk of that jurisdiction and finding out the disposition of that case; however; some employers just don't go that far and will eliminate you from consideration based soley on the computer records check. Remember, things happen for a reason. This will pass and you'll have learned from this mistake. Good Luck
2007-12-27 14:06:09 · answer #2 · answered by MIKE W 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The way to not have a theft on your record is to not commit theft--or at least, not be caught. There is no way of getting it off your record. The offense will be a class B misdemeanor, being that the value of the items stolen was between $50 and $500.
2007-12-27 13:07:15 · answer #3 · answered by Alex M 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
GET A LAWYER. DO NOT KNOW LAWS IN THEFT AMOUNT FOR TX OF WHAT IS A FELONY AMOUNT OR A MISDEMANOR AMOUNT.
2007-12-27 13:03:08 · answer #4 · answered by ahsoasho2u2 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋