I know I did a stupid thing, but I was wondering if it'll go on my record.
No police were involved and the security guy said it wouldn't be on my record, but my friend who was caught shop lifting more than once said they knew she had shop lifted before. I recieved a fine of $300, and I already paid it. So I don't know, will it? I live in California if that makes a difference.
Unfortunately, you now have a criminal record. Paying the fine was a plea of guilty. There are a couple of ways to get rid of a criminal conviction. You could try and undo the conviction. However, in this case, it sounds like this is not available to you here. What you are probably left with is going the expungement route. Expungement does not totally get the conviction off the record, but it is a first step to applying for a pardon. However, these take years to do.
The best thing you can do is consult with a criminal attorney to see about starting the expungement/pardon application process. You may not yet be eligible to begin it. Unfortunately, you are going to have to live with this mistake for a while.
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It sounds like you do NOT have a criminal record, since it sounds like this NEVER went to court. As such, an expungement is not what you are looking for, as there is nothing to expunge. If there was never police or court involvement, the fine you paid was most likely a civil collection fee imposed by many large retailers as a means of restitution for shoplifting. This is not to say the won't or can't report it to police, and hence court could then become involved, but for now, there should not be a record.
If you were one of my clients in NJ, I would advise you to do a background check on yourself. This can be done several ways, such as by paying for the search through one of the companies that are online; or, by having a fingerprint check conducted through your local police/State police to see if anything shows up. If nothing does, then it is likely that an employer could not see that this had occurred. If anything does show up, I strongly suggest you stop the self-help routine and discuss this with an experienced criminal defense lawyer admitted to practice in CA.
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