Hello. I received a summons today saying that I had been charged with a theft under $5000 in Antigonish, NS about a month ago. As I live in Halifax, at first I had no idea what this was referring to. Eventually, I pieced together that I had been in Antigonish that day as I had been driving home from a funeral in Cape Breton with my family and we had stopped at the Atlantic Superstore. I was seen on tape putting a cosmetic item into my bag, which I admit to as it is often my habit to not push around a cart when I am stopping only for a few items, but to carry things in my large handbag or shopping bag until I get to the checkout. I picked up a couple of other items and paid for them. However, the officer in charge of my case says that the loss prevention officer claimed I bypassed the checkout and that I ignored her attempts to get my attention in the parking lot, both of which are absolutely untrue. I was never aware of anyone trying to get my attention, nor was my husband or son who were sitting in the car. The thing is,I was quite stressed and distracted with a migraine that day and I think it may be possible that I forgot to pay for the item that was in my bag, but I'm not certain. It would not be uncommon for me to have paid for something like that and then return it to my bag keeping it separate from my food items. I put my grocery bag away that evening, but I do remember finding the cosmetic item in a separate bag a couple of days later, but didn't think anything of it. I waived my right to a lawyer on the phone today while I was talking to the police officer in charge of this case because I wanted to be completely forthcoming about all of this, but he told me that I can only speak with the loss prevention officer and see if she would drop the charges. I don't have a criminal record, and I would like to take responsibility for this if I in fact unintentionally left the store without paying for this item. But my real concern is, that if this does go to court, is it better for me to plead guilty and explain what my story, or not guilty and explain my story? And what kind of penalty am I looking at if they just don't believe me?

First off any offense needs to be taken seriously. So to start with you need to gather evidence for your case. You should NEVER waive your rights until you have a full understanding of what's going on. Do they have tape of you bypassing the check out? Have you seen it? It's a very poor habit for you to just put things in your bag. If this is a regular thing Im surprised you haven't been caught at it before. You need a lawyer. And you need to review all of the evidence.