Need Help! Please.

[NotAvailable]

I have a big problem.

On Tuesday night, I was arrested for petty larceny, a misdemeanor. I could have been charged with a felony because I had a "burglary tool." It was a detagger for the hard plastic tags on clothing. I was honest and cooperative, so the cop forgot about it.

I have had no crimal record at all previously, nor tickets. I am 19. I am very hard up on money right now and good attorneys can be very expensive. I do not want a misdemeanor on my record because it just plain looks bad, and makes employment opportunities difficult.

I'm not sure what to do. If I have to pay for an attorney then I will pay for an attorney. I am not taking a sh1tty assigned state attorney that does not care about anything. My dad says write the DA, but I don't think it will help.

Any advice or shared similar experience would be greatly appreciated.

TIA!

I registered a new name because I wanted to conceal my name; I am embarrased.

[NotAvailable]

Bump.

[b240]

HEH....i would just go with the assigned DA. When i was on probation mine did me just fine. (and she was hot too!)

[stickgoat]

You stole a theft detagger?

May I ask why?

Personally, I would go the cheaper route. If you don't have the money, you don't have the money.

And I'm sorry to sound like a ******, but if you're really worried about employment opportunities you probably should have thought about your future before stealing something. Good luck.

[Cyberkreig]

I got myself into a serious legal situation when i was younger. I went witht he DA, she really listened to me, explained the letter of the law, got me off with probation and comunity service.

[MikeS14240sx]

I don't think he/she said they stole the detagger, they were just caught in possession of the device.

[NotAvailable]

Thanks for the replies.

Stick, I messed up. Plain and simple. It's not me.

I did steal the detagger about a week before.

I am not worried about the DA. I don't think I have a choice with a DA.

The thing is the attorney. I want to be able to get this hidden from my record.

Thanks.

[MikeMurphy]

if its your first offence your going to do alright, at least up in canada you would. The law isnt out to screw you with a record on your first offence, but it is possible. Let them know that your scared ****less because its much better to prevent someone from being a criminal at a younger age than to deal with more frequent and serious offences later.

im not here to judge ya, just thinking out loud here. I suggest you meet with as many people as possible about this, especially key legal players in your case, and simply show them that your scared ****less. You wont get off totally free obviously because you did in fact do something very wrong, which you know. But knowing that you still have an opportunity to keep your record clean is a good motivator in good behaviour. They know this.

[Just another 240]

what's a DA?=X

[NotAvailable]

Mike, thanks a lot. Thanks for not judging me

A DA is a district attorney. The "official prosecutor for a judicial district."

Thanks.

[christopher]

I would say to just keep your story consistent and when you do appear in court, give them the whole, "I messed up and I don't know what I was thinking, this is the stupidest thing I have ever done in my life..." routine. I have seen my share of trouble in the past. The court system as a whole likes the idea of straitening people out in the courtroom so they don't have to do it with jailtime or probation, since these things cost them money.

Take the appointed lawyer and make the court know that you are an upstanding citizen who just screwed up this once. If you can casually mention some of your life goals it may help.

I know all this sounds petty and stupid, but charm has gotten me out of a felony grafitti charge and two misdemenor charges for traffic related stupidity. Just be as nice and sincere as you can be, that way no one in the court room will think your being a smart a**.

Take the free, court apointed defense lawyer if you don't know what you are doing. I defended myself on my misdemeanor cases and I have a clean record.

[christopher]

Oh, here in MN if you play your cards right, charges will be placed on your record and then removed if you can go a year with no further legal troubles. I don't know if that is true in all states, but if that is true where you are then I would hope for that. You are going to be convicted, most likely. At this point you are just trying to minimize your penalty and protect your clean record.

[pitbull_240]

Bruh!!!!! I too have had my share of troubles in the past, fourtunately not for any kind of theft, which as prior retail and office management, if it shows, yes it will be hard with employment. I have to agree with stickgoat about "shoulda thought about it first." BUT, I too, should have thought about somethings first as well. Important part is to stand up and answer for your actions. PLACE THE BLAME NO WHERE BUT IN YOURSELF!!! ESPECIALLY IN COURT!!!

I have to agree with christopher as well,Go with the scared straight story. Take responsibilty for all your actions, and explain why you would like another chance at life WITH NO RECORD!!! Ask if there are any FIRST OFFENDER ACTS for such violation of the laws. If there are, take a plea with the DA, that gives you probation for however long they see fit (don't let them hand you 5-10 years of unsupervised probation, more like 1-2), see to it that you will get FIRST OFFENDER STATUS, immediately pay any fines, and court costs, and KEEP YOUR NOSE CLEAN!!!!

Hope this helps, and wish you the best, keep us informed.....

~Pit

[Onizuka]

Thanks for the replies.

Stick, I messed up. Plain and simple. It's not me.

I did steal the detagger about a week before.

I am not worried about the DA. I don't think I have a choice with a DA.

The thing is the attorney. I want to be able to get this hidden from my record.

Thanks.

ask if you can just pay the fine and do comunity service, sometimes they wont put it on your record

just think, you could have bought the thing you were trying to steal with the money you could have earned from the job that you might not be able to get now...

[NotAvailable]

Thanks Chris, Pit, and JSpec.

So you guys think that I should just use the appointed attorney?

Thanks.

[Cyberkreig]

Yeah, i ment to say public defender, but instead i said DA.

[DAEDALUS]

No guarantees, but working it with the DA is your best bet I think. Explain to them your concerns and they'll probably work something out if they can, especially if your record is clean. I once was arrested for a misdemeanor. I didn't know false tags was a misdemeanor, but I wasn't really thinking. I just wanted to use a non-registered (but insured) car for a couple weeks while working on my other one. Anyway, the judge was pretty cool. He doubled the fine but dropped the charge. More than fair IMO. A clean record buys you a little leeway usually.

[NotAvailable]

Daedalus, did you get an attorney?

[DAEDALUS]

No...I tried to get with the state-provided defender, but the judge denied my application since I have a decent job. Part of the "if you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you". Guess I could have afforded one in the court's mind. So I went up before the judge, he told me what I was accused of, and then asked me what I wanted to do. The hell if I knew, so I asked, "what are my options?" I could have pleaded innocent, pleaded guilty, or talked to the DA. So I asked to talk to the DA. I guess they were busy that day, and the DA never called my name. Lost in the shuffle. So the judge called me up again and asked if I had talked to the DA. "No". The DA got all flustered and started digging through papers. I guess the judge kinda got impatient, so he just came out and offered me the deal with the double fine, no record. Don't be afraid to ask questions if you don't get an attorney, but if money's that tight, I'm guessing you'll qualify. Regardless, the DA isn't *necessarily* a hard-***. People make mistakes; hopefully they'll give you this one.