What to do if I was charged with petty larceny for shoplifting but am a student on an F-1 visa and can’t afford a lawyer?
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What to do if I was charged with petty larceny for shoplifting but am a student on an F-1 visa and can’t afford a lawyer?
My court date is in 4 months. Is Legal Aid Society a good idea or should I work at gathering money from everywhere? Can I have my court date moved up about 2 months? If so, how? What is a better solution for me considering I am an international student and will need to go through immigration desks at airports every 6 months or so: ACD or Disorderly Conduct? Is there a possibility that I can negotiate with the store for charges to be dropped? It is a big chain departmental store. When can I ideally travel out of the country so as to be a
Asked on May 10, 2014 under Criminal Law, New York
Answers:
Richard Southard / Law Office of Richard Southard
Answered 9 years ago | Contributor
You cannot negotiate with the store to drop charges and doing so may be tantamount to new crimes. See Penal Law section 215. If you are indigent, you will qualify for the judge to appoint you a public defender. There are good public defenders and bad public defenders the same way that there are good and bad private attorneys. However, with a court appointed lawyer, you do not get to choose who represents you and are stuck with whomever the judge appoints. Given your immigration issues, you probably do not want to leave it to chance. Petit Larceny is a class A misdemeanor punishable up to one year in jail, $1000 fine or three years probation. It is also a crime of moral turpitude for purposes of immigration. A conviction of Petit Larceny or an attempt to commit this crime, will result in your having a permanent criminal record that cannot be erased or expunged. While it may be possible for your attorney to negotiate a disorderly conduct or ACD, you should discusss with whichever attorney represents you, the implications of both and how it will affect future immigration issues and international travel prior to accepting any deal. I cannot see which county the case is pending so I cannot comment on whether the date can be advanced or what the plea bargaining guidelines in that county are.
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