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Shoplifting / Retail Theft / First Offense / Diversion / PTI / Seal / Expunge / Criminal Record / Online Admissions / AVVO / Michael A. Haber, Esq. **ARRESTED / **305DUI

Q:     How should I plea for shoplifting charge and how do I get a public defender?  I’m 18 and will be turning 19 in a little under two weeks. I got caught shoplifting a… Scroll down to read more!

October 28, 2014 / Michael A. Haber /

Q:     How should I plea for shoplifting charge and how do I get a public defender?  I’m 18 and will be turning 19 in a little under two weeks. I got caught shoplifting a pair of grey jeans priced at $17.95 and they called the cops who told me I was no longer allowed to return to that particular H&M permanently. Also, they did tell me I was arrested and gave me a notice to appear and then let me go. I am planning on taking a shoplifting course before my court date but I want to know do I get a public defender before my court date? Also how should I plead? Considering the undercover security said he saw me put the jeans in my purse. Is there any way to get this removed from my records, considering I go to school full-time and have good grades. Will they notify my job about this? Lastly, what should I expect as a punishment? I understand what I did was wrong and i am sorry.

A:    

Locally licensed lawyer

For questions involving state laws, lawyers who are licensed in the same state as the asker are often able to provide more relevant answers than out-of-state lawyers.

For questions involving federal laws (e.g., immigration or patents), this distinction is unimportant.

” href=”http://www.avvo.com/legal-answers/how-should-i-plea-for-shoplifting-charge-and-how-d-1509147.html#!” rel=”nofollow” style=”-webkit-transition: all 0.3s ease; border-bottom-color: rgb(118, 123, 124); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(118, 123, 124); border-top-style: dotted; border-top-width: 1px; color: #767b7c; display: inline-block; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.2em; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.3s ease;”>Licensed in FL

Michael Adam Haber

Michael HaberLearn more. ” href=”http://www.avvo.com/legal-answers/how-should-i-plea-for-shoplifting-charge-and-how-d-1509147.html#!” rel=”nofollow” style=”-webkit-transition: all 0.3s ease; color: #006699; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.3s ease;”>PRO

Criminal Defense Attorney – Miami, FL

Contributor Level 20

10 lawyers agreed with this answer

Nick Jay Dorsten
Nick Jay Dorsten
Criminal Defense Attorney – Clearwater, FL
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Andrew Stephen Roberts
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Christopher Robert Dillingham II
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Majid Vasigh
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Chad Piotrowski
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Lisa Michelle Bassis
Criminal Defense Attorney – Beverly Hills, CA
Robert Jason De Groot
Robert Jason De Groot
Criminal Defense Attorney – Deltona, FL

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Lawyers agree
Answered . As to what will happen to you: If this is your first offense then it is almost certain that you will be eligible for a diversionary program. Diversion is a program which is designed to make you think twice about future criminality by way of making you jump through a series of proverbial hoops during a period of supervision, successful completion of which results in a dismissal. The program is owned and operated by the State Attorney’s Office and they have absolute and unequivocal discretion as to whether to admit you, keep you or “graduate” you from their program. That said, the question is whether or not diversion is right for you. There may or may not be viable defenses to the charges, affirmative or otherwise, or there may be factual, legal, procedural or substantive mechanisms by which to attack and beat the charges without going through diversion.

The best way for you to get competent advise is going to be to have a face-to-face meeting with a criminal defense lawyer who can follow-up on your information with questions of her/his own, as well as review the police reports and citations and then offer an informed opinion.

As to your record: Expunction is available in a case which was dismissed, nolle pros’d, no actioned or where you were found to have been not guilty. In Florida you can only expunge one eligible (non-disqualified) offense in your lifetime.

If you look at the following website you will learn everything you ever wanted to know about the expunction process:


Please see:  http://www.fdle.state.fl.us/content/getdoc/c83dd888-ef7a-448e-9a96-ba69fc4181f7/Seal-and-Expunge-Home.aspx  

The procedure is both quite detailed and somewhat painstaking but is also far from being rocket science. You can attempt to navigate it yourself (FDLE has tried to simplify it – again I refer you to the website above) but, assuming your eligibility, any criminal defense lawyer (anywhere in Florida – this can be done remotely and does not necessarily require a local attorney, although a local attorney may or may not be less expensive) will be able to accomplish the task with greater ease and likely in a shorter time period.

That said I suspect that it doesn’t much matter where you were arrested, what you were arrested for, what the final disposition was or whether or not you expunged the record. This is 2013 and we are forehead deep into the internet age, where nothing is private, sacred or truly hidden from public scrutiny.

Sadly, expunging only applies to certain (not even to all) government agencies and has no effect whatsoever on private (er, extortionist) enterprise, who compile and maintain arrest information and then demand that you pay them off to remove your information from their database and public access. Worse still, after you “buy back your information”, then you can count on there being another private company lurking, somewhere, sometime, somehow, just waiting for you to pay them off as well. Its a seemingly never-ending vicious cycle.

While it is most unlikely that anyone will call either your school or your employer about this, your arrest (even though you did not go to jail you were technically arrested) it is a matter of public record, for better or for worse you are probably best advised to take the wind out of the sails by admitting your past issues / indiscretions to your present (or potential) employer, landlord, etcetera, rather than waiting for them to find out on their own.

Finally, you shouldn’t be making admissions on line (please see my disclaimer below) – anything you type can be admitted into evidence against you as an admission against your own interest in a subsequent legal proceeding.

Although I practice primarily in Miami-Dade County you are welcome to contact my office for a referral or two, or you can search either Avvo or the Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers website by locality (please seehttp://www.facdl.org/ – and click on the “Find A Lawyer” tab).

First, second and third: No attorney-client relationship exists by virtue of any Q&A with Michael A. Haber, Esq. on Avvo. Fourth: Anything that you post on Avvo (or on similar sites) or on any social media is by its nature public. It is essentially an admission / confession and can be introduced into evidence as a statement against your interest in a subsequent legal proceeding. Once posted you lose any reasonable expectation of privacy, so, as this is an open forum (with no privilege attached), please be extra careful when considering what to post online (forewarned is forearmed.)
For more than 23 years Michael A. Haber, P.A. has been providing creative, effective and zealous advocacy and counsel in cases ranging from DUI to drug trafficking and from misdemeanors to first degree murder.  

At Michael A. Haber, P.A. “Its all about reasonable doubt”!

Michael A. Haber, Esq. is prepared to speak with you about your case!

1-888-SHARK-8-1, 305-381-8686, 305-798-2220, **ARRESTED, **305DUI, **MIAMIDUI, **MIAMILAW or **HABERLAW.

“Like” Michael A. Haber, Esq. @ www.facebook.com/haberpa / follow Michael A. Haber, Esq. @ http://habercriminallaw.blogspot.com

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Michael A. Haber

At Michael A. Haber, P.A. "it's all about reasonable doubt"! Whether in State or Federal Courts, Michael A. Haber, P.A. strives to ensure that his client's rights are respected and that his clients receive top-tier legal representation and counsel. For more than a quarter of a century I have striven to make Michael A. Haber, P.A. a business that custom tailors its services to meet the needs of the client. This incorporates such things as (but is not limited to) doing my best to meet clients at their convenience (as opposed to mine), in locations and at times which are mutually convenient (sometimes at their homes, places of business, independent ground - having free wifi and excellent coffee any Dunkin Donuts always works for me - and occasionally even at odd hours), structuring fees to reasonably accommodate the parties, making myself personally available to the client as close to 24/7 as is possible and, perhaps most importantly, giving careful and comprehensive consideration to both micro and macro issues in a given case so as to be able to agree upon and effort toward a viable litigation objective. This is why I refer to Michael A. Haber, P.A. proudly providing "boutique criminal defense litigation" (being "a small company that offers highly specialized services"), and this is a large part of Michael A. Haber, P.A.'s mission statement Accordingly, Michael A. Haber, P.A. has provided personalized and boutique legal services to both individuals and entities, primarily in the South Florida area, since 1991. With no history of professional discipline whatsoever, Michael A. Haber, Esq. zealously advocates his client's interests and custom tailors his services to meet each client's particular situation, needs and desires. Toward that end Michael A. Haber, Esq. makes himself directly available to his clients whether in person, over the phone (305-381-8686 or Toll Free 1-888-SHARK-8-1), by cell, verbally or text (305-798-2220), by e-mail ([email protected]) on Facebook ( http://www.facebook.com/haberpa ), on Twittter, (@Sharkjy910) on AOL/IM (Sharky910), and also why I consistently add information to the public on both the Michael A. Haber, P.A. Criminal Michael A Haber PA Criminal DUI Defense Litigation Miami Blog (http://www.habercriminallaw.blogspot.com/) and with my "Webisode" series on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/c/MichaelHaberLaw), whcih currently features 222 briegf VideoFAQ's on a variety of Criminal Defense, DUI and BUI related topics. When you hire Michael A. Haber, P.A. you get Michael A. Haber, Esq.! And remember, at HaberPA, it's all about reasonable doubt!

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  • positive review  Top notch, very skilled, and highly attentive. Mr. Haber is a fantastic criminal defense attorney.

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    July 26, 2017

  • positive review  Thanks again. You are second to none when it comes to defending your clients. For that, I thank you

    Leo Gonzalez Avatar Leo Gonzalez
    April 10, 2017

  • Excellence in criminal defense. Very informative And upfront of wiyh your crimanal defense

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    April 11, 2016

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