Okay, folks I don't necessarily have the intention of getting flamed here, because this is a forum about asking questions, and I don't want to be criticized for this.

Yesterday night, I made a very dumb mistake. I was at a store and I simply tried stealing a DVD, got caught for it, and now I have to go to court to settle it. It was a stupid mistake and it already set me straight even though the consequences haven't even been issued.

I have never got in trouble with the law until now, and I was up front and honest when I was accused of stealing this DVD. Now what the absolute problem is that I recently got employed at a job that requires a police clearance (Yes, I'm aware I should have thought of this). If they find out about this then there is a very high possibility that I will get fired.

So... My court date is scheduled on January 29th, and I also have to go in on January 18th. My goal is to get this terminated from my record before I hand in the police clearance, if of course they allow me to hand it in that late.

What would be the best route to take in this situation in order to make this terminated from my record? I am willing to pay the finances, but what would be the best route, and how would I do so?

FYI: I'm 19 years old and from Ontario Canada, so this is a Canadian Law question. Thank you very much for your support.

I need some educated advice, I am desperate, please.

I don't know if hiring a lawyer would be best, because I am not fighting this, I am pleading guilty.

You hire a very good attorney, have them see if you can get pretrial program that will have the case dismissed after you do certain things.

Thank you very much.

As said, I am uneducated in this. How much does a good attorney usually cost?

There is a thing called deferred adjudication. When you see a lawyer ask him if this would apply in this case. But I do not know how it would affect your credibility with the police job.

I am not ragging you out but please think of this before you every are tempted again in any manner. So many guys have lost so many things because of cases just like your's and so of them were not ever guilty, just charged.

I guess the Canadian law seems a little more leniant with this.

I was reading around, and a guy from Toronto was in the same situation as me. The security at the store mentioned this too..

Since this is my first case, I can go to legal aid, and hope they can refer me to a diversion. You donate money to charity, write a report about shoplifting, show the judge, and come off clean slate. He donated as little as 100 dollars... I'm going to be definitely attempting this first.

Thanks for the advice though, and believe me this will not happen again. You must have misread though, I am not in a police job, I got a job that requires a police clearance. My goal is to hand this in once charges are dropped.

I have a couple more questions...

1. Odds are I'll be able to hand my police clearance in once charges are dropped, assuming they will be. However, is there a possible way that they can find out about my criminal record without me handing in a police clearance? I'm 90% sure they can't because I believe police clearances must be approved by the person being checked.

2. My court date is January 29th and I also have to go on the 17th... If I wait until after Christmas, is that procrastinating too much, or will legal aid be able to set something up in a matter of that time (about a month)?

I really regret doing this, it's hanging heavily on my head, but I'm confident all will go well. The first question is basically the question that has me worried, if that question could be answered I will highly appreciate this.

Sorry to bother, but I need answers. I know there's other threads relating to this, but I need a Canadian's answer...

From what I understand of a diversion it will NOT clear your record until you have gone through the prescribed probation. But I could be wrong on this. Since its highly imperative that you keep your record clean, I strongly suggest consulting an attorney. They would best be able to advise you on what you can do to avoid getting a record that will prevent your police clearance.

Thanks for the answer Scott, and sorry to PM you ignorantly.

Now since I have not appeared in court yet, does that mean I am not convicted, ala does it mean that my criminal record is still clean until these dates?

Basically if I handed in my police clearance today, will it be clean?

If you have been assigned a court date, then there is an arrest record. A police clearance check would probably turn up the arrest record.

Okay, you're right thanks. The security actually mentioned this and I forgot.