My 18 year old niece was arrested three times within a week for shoplifting. The first was under $200 worth of electronics she was stopped with before leaving the store, A few days later, she was caught stealing small items totaling under $20 from two stores in a shopping mall. This resulted in 2 charges of Theft Under $100 and 1 charge of Theft Under $1,000. The family scraped together $5000 for an attorney who assured her he had made a deal with the States Attorney, and had her plead guilty. The agreement fell through, if it ever existed at all (doubtful), and she was given Probation with weekly drug testing, and community service. She completed the community service, but in the 3 months she has been on probation, I do not believe she has passed even one drug test due to marijuana. She was ordered to an outpatient treatment program about 2 months ago and attends weekly meetings.
She just received notice that she has been charged with violating probation on EACH of the previous charges. With THREE simultaneous charges of violating the terms of her probation, what can she expect when she gets to court? Should the family cough up more money for a private attorney? Should she use a public defender? Does she need to have an attorney at all? Nobody in our family has ever been in this kind of situation and we are all very anxious.

Hello A:

I can see spending money to help a family member... But, THIS family member looks like she's on a downward path that can't be stopped by you spending more money...

I don't know what she needs... But, if I were you, I wouldn't throw good money after bad.

excon