Charged with shoplifting but never left store
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Charged with shoplifting but never left store
Class B Misdemeanor in Texas
Asked on March 28, 2017 under Criminal Law, Texas
Answers:
M.D., Member, California and New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 7 years ago | Contributor
A person can commit the crime of shoplifting without actually leaving a store. All they need to do is to move the property and exercise control over it in a way that is inconsistent with the store's reasonable expectations as to how shoppers will handle merchandise. If security or loss prevention could can infer by your actions that you were attempting to steal property without paying for it, then you could be can with shoplifting. If you get an attorney and have never been in trouble with the law before, perhaps they can get this incident chalked up to a mistake and get the charges dropped. If not, then you may be able to ask for "diversion" or "deferred adjudication", which is a special probation that once successfully completed will leave you with a clear criminal historyt record. However, this is available for a first-time offense only. At this point, you should consult directly with a criminal law attorney who can best advise you further.
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