I stupidly stole an item worth at least $10 from a chain store, got caught and was escorted to the back room for questioning. An RCMP officer was called in, and I was asked for an ID which I didn't have on me. The cop had to drive me to my residence so I could retrieve it for him, took down my info, and afterwards just let me go. The problem here is that I wasn't told if I had to attend court, or if they were just pardoning me since it was my first offence. I'm entirely confused and have no clue what to do. I don't know how to deal with having to go to court, since I don't have the money for a lawyer or even for paying the fine. I am over 18 and diagnosed with mental issues, and am currently being processed for other health problems. The cops weren't very communicative and I had to ask them all the questions, instead of them just informing which I thought was what they're supposed to do. Afterwards the RCMP just told me he didn't want to hear from me again. Nothing else. Please, if anyone has a suggestion, can you help me out?

You will get a letter from the store for civil penalties, this will be about 300 to 500 ( my estimate)

You can most likely expect a letter from the police that will give you a date and time to report for fingerprinting and photo and will be given a court date at that time.

Expect another 300 to 500 dollar fine by the court along with probation, and be allowed a diversion program.

Thanks so much.

To Fr_chuck, how long do you think will it take for the mail and then the court date? I just want to get this all done with as I'm looking to clear my record as soon as I can. As well, what will happen to my family if I lose it at some point and kill myself? I have attempted suicide before, and I'm worried that my family will have to pay for my crime.

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Originally Posted by sigurd

To Fr_chuck, how long do you think will it take for the mail and then the court date? I just want to get this all done with as I'm looking to clear my record as soon as I can. As well, what will happen to my family if I lose it at some point and kill myself? I have attempted suicide before, and I'm worried that my family will have to pay for my crime.

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First, cheer up. And remember that suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem.

If you were to die before you have resolved this shoplifting charge, it wouldn't be your family's responsibility. They would not have to pay.

But will they be informed? My family is going through difficulties right now and the last thing I'd want is for them to know. I have to admit I wasn't very humiliated when the cops paraded me around the store, but I definitely will be if my family found out.

I wanted to know if I could survive this without a lawyer. I'm completely ignorant of the law system and have no one to advise me. What are the possible outcomes for this? I am over 18, unemployed, diagnosed with mental illnesses and intensely stressed out, long since before I got charged. If you can, will you please point out all the possible outcomes I might have to face? I have not yet received any mail as well. Thanks so much for your time.

I have been charged with theft under, but have not yet received any mail from the business that I took from or the RCMP. I wanted to know if it would be wise to write an apology letter to the store before appearing in court (which is likely to happen). Will anything I write in the letter be held against me? I am very anxious and unsure of what to do.

An apology won't help. Everyone is sorry. Whether they are sorry they stole or sorry they were caught, the stores don't care. This isn't a murder case with testimony and character witnesses. Appear early, dress neatly, stand straight, and be respectful. And hopefully have no prior record.

Why do you think you will appear in court? You may get a letter with the opportunity to pay a hefty sum instead, several hundred dollars above the cost of the item.

As I said above, I am very anxious and am willing to do anything at this point. I may not be sent to court, but it still is a possibility and it's best I be careful because I have no idea what it is that I'm facing. I am extremely anxious and I don't have the power to do anything at this point but to write a lousy apology letter that they won't even care about.

You are an adult. Family won't be informed.
The reason the cop didn't tell you much is because it's up to the store.
I wouldn't contact them, but it is your right to do so of course.
Tough as it is, you are going to have to wait it out.
Mental health, physical health, there really isn't anything to fall back on. This is a routine misdemeanor treated on an assembly line basis.
Hiring a lawyer will just add to the expenses you already face. Start saving, sorry.

Shoplifting happens on a daily basis, and they lose millions, so why would they care? But if you need something to do while you wait, then write a letter. Keep it short and don't use any excuses. I still wouldn't do this, because there is that one chance that they are letting it go, or your paperwork fell off a desk into a wastebasket, or the loss prevention person quit and they hired someone who decided to start over - you never know.
Some chain stores are stricter than others. Sears is strict I hear.
As for time it takes to get the letter? 3 weeks, a month, possibly 2 months, depending on how the chain handles cases, e.g. whether it goes to some corporate offices or not.

If you are completely unfamiliar with the law, why would you even want to face this situation without a lawyer? Without a lawyer, you will most likely be convicted and have this on your record FOREVER. It will make it difficult to get a job, cross borders, etc. It will impact on your life in ways that you cannot even imagine. In both Canada and the US you can get the assistance of a free lawyer if you have limited resources.

I've merged your threads, please don't start new threads over the same issue.

You are in a position where you don't want to do anything until the store or police take further action. Just leave it alone unless you hear anything more.

Oh, sorry about the numerous threads. I wasn't thinking. Thanks so much for taking the time to answer. I'm completely helpless and I don't know what to do. I can't afford a lawyer and I have no one near me to ask for advise. And while there might be a chance that they would let me off, I hardly think they will. I managed to ask the LPO what I'll have to face, but he wasn't very specific and just laid out the what I might get. I don't know what I will be facing and I hoped an apology letter would earn me a more helpful reply if they would even bother. But now I see that's not likely going to happen. I just thought the letter would help me calm down.

See this is why its important to keep your posts together. While I don't disagree with Rivka's response, had the whole story been known the response might have been different. As of now you have not been charged with a crime. Until you are charged with a crime, you do nothing. The more time passes, the more likely you will not be charged. It is possible the store may require you to pay a fine, but that's a civil, not criminal matter.

So even if the police were involved, I could still be possibly let off with only a fine? All right, I'll wait it out and see what goes. Thank you so much for helping me out here, joypulv and ScottGem. It's a just a shame that the cops weren't as informative.

I have one final question though. Will anything appear on my criminal record? The RCMP officer took my information, and I'm not sure how the CPIC system works at all. I've been acknowledged as having committed a crime, but will this only appear on my record if I had been charged?

If you aren't charged, no record.
If you are, you will have a misdemeanor record.
Since you feel more at ease with information and worry when doing nothing, I see no reason why you can't go down to the local police station during a mid-week mid-afternoon and ask the officer behind the front desk about all the ways charges are handled and what happens to information gathered if a charge is never made, and anything else you can think of. They might even know how long that chain store tends to take to send out letters. (Probably not, but some of the clerks might know more than the uniformed officers. They aren't going to treat you like a criminal for asking, and you can even say you are asking for someone else.)

That sounds like the best thing I can do for now. Thank you so much again for all the help.