I stole $80.00 worth of merchandise from walmart a few days ago. I was bailed out of jail and given a court date for next week. I have a squeaky clean record, im in school, and i have a good job. I made a stupid decision. I just want to know if i need a lawyer or the court lawyer, can i get that PTD thing that ive been reading about and most importantly will this remain on my record. im trying to plea not guilty. Is that possible please help
Your best answer came from Attorney Foley. You should mark it as such. You do want a lawyer. If you have the money to hire one, do that, now. If not, see if you can get one appointed by the court.
Do not post any more allegations or facts on the Internet. The only one you should be discussing this with is your lawyer.
If you get a Civil Demand letter from Walmart for hundreds of dollars, read the links below before you respond.
You are on an informal sort of probation from now until your case is done. That is, until it is done, any other law enforcement involvement will make your life MUCH more difficult.
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Of course you can always plead not guilty--you always have the constitutional right to make the State prove their case against you. I don't know whether you'd qualify for a court-appointed attorney or not, but you definitely do need an attorney to represent you and do whatever is possible to stop you from being convicted for this, because having even a misdemeanor theft conviction on your record will basically ruin the rest of your life (I wish I were being overly dramatic with that, but unfortunately it's true). You do sound like a good candidate for pretrial diversion, or possibly another arrangement that would also result in a dismissal. I know this is may be the worst thing that's ever happened to you, and that you're scared about what's going to happen next. That's reasonable, given the circumstances. But there are a lot of people who have been in your situation, and have ended up coming out of it maybe pretty shaken up and put through the wringer, but ultimately no worse and hopefully having even learned something in the end. Good luck. Don't give up hope here, and if you do end up going to your court date without hiring an attorney, please realize that what the prosecutor offers up front is very often subject to a fair amount of negotiation before things are done.
I practice in Georgia, not Texas, but it's probably a misdemeanor charge. If this is your first offense it is highly unlikely you are going to jail. It's likely you can get this case resolved through a pre-trial diversion. You will be appointed an attorney if you can't afford to hire one.
Calm down. Your post must not be accurate because I know that you would not ever admit to stealing anything in a public forum while charges are pending and you want to plead not guilty. Talk to any attorney in your area and review what facts they actually have to support the charges. Your best chance at anything is going in with an attorney.
You need to contact and hire an attorney immediately. Theft is a crime of moral turpitude and can affect your ability to get a job, your credit, and even your ability to get an apartment. You may be eligible for a pretrial diversion, but many lawyers do not even attempt to put a packet together. If you are accepted for a pretrial diversion, if you sucessfully complete it, you will be eligible to file a petition for expunction to seal your record. There are also many ways to fight a theft charge as well and force the state to dismiss the case. Contact a defense attorney with a reputation of providing good results and a willingness to fight for you.
