Common Defenses A Local Criminal Attorney Can Use To Help You With Shoplifting Charges

Posted on: 9 March 2022

Being arrested and charged with a crime is never a good feeling. In fact, you may feel embarrassed or depressed upon being arrested. However, getting help from a local criminal attorney is one of the best things that you can do when you are charged with a crime. An attorney can come up with defenses to help you fight the charges you are facing. Here are a few of the most common defenses that a local criminal attorney may try to use if you are charged with shoplifting. 

You Did Not Intend to Steal Anything

One of the most common defenses that criminal defense lawyers use for shoplifting cases is stating that you have a lack of intent to steal. In order to be convicted of a shoplifting or larceny charge, the prosecutor needs to show that you intended to steal the items. Mistakes happen all the time. You may have been in the dressing room and forgot to take off a shirt you were trying on, or you may have forgotten you had a case of water in the bottom of your cart and walked out of the store with it. Making a mistake is not intent, and as such, this is a popular defense. 

No Stealing Actually Took Place

Another common defense that a local criminal defense attorney may use to help you get out of a shoplifting charge is to argue that no stealing actually took place. In order to be charged with shoplifting, you have to actually steal items. If you place an item in your jacket, you cannot be charged with shoplifting. You need to make it out of the store. In many cases, people think twice about stealing and put items back before they actually commit the crime, or there is no actual proof that someone left the store with items they may have been concealing. 

You Were Illegally Searched

The last common defense that a local criminal defense lawyer may use if you are facing a shoplifting charge is that you were illegally searched, and as such, any items found on you should not be introduced into evidence. The police have to follow local laws and ensure your civil rights are not violated. If they illegally search your person or your vehicle and find items you may have stolen, that evidence may have to be thrown out, which makes it nearly impossible for the prosecutor to win their shoplifting case against you. 

If you have been arrested and charged with a shoplifting charge, you may be unsure of what to do upon getting out of jail. Contacting a local criminal attorney as soon as possible is important. An attorney can subpoena camera footage from the store and go to work building up a defense that may help to get the charges against you dismissed or reduced. Reach out to a local attorney if you have been charged with shoplifting. 

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Staying Out Of Trouble

About a year ago, I realized that I was starting to bend the rules a little when I was out in public with my friends. I was really nervous about getting caught, so I started thinking more carefully about what I was doing and why I was doing it. However, one night, I decided to go streaking, and I was arrested. I realized that I needed to work with a criminal attorney to get the help that I needed, and I sat down with them to go over the details of my case. After a long and arduous court case, I had learned my lesson and stayed out of jail. This blog is all about staying out of trouble in the first place and knowing how to prevent problems in your personal life.