So for a few days now a gang stopped me alone while picking up my mail they said that if I didn't want my family or son to get beat up I better do what they say. I didn't tell anyone because I was scared they were going to hurt me or my family. So my mother in law goes to target & I do my own thing thinking of I give them a few items They would leave me alone since I have no money to give. Will that day I got caught & me being 19 and bullied in High school & lied & said I was 17 knowing they would call my mom & I would be able to go home but now I have to go to court & explain this all should I do a report so I can REALLY explain why I stole items & why I lied about my age because I'm scared they are going to come after me..

Hello k:

Legally speaking, you're better off NOT telling anyone that story.. First off because NOBODY will believe it. And secondly, even IF they did, it WON'T help you with your charges.

I have NO idea how you should deal with your gang.

excon

Court isn't like what you see on TV, and it isn't like school either. There's no 'report to give' on a shoplifting charge. The judge hears a case about every 20 seconds, after you sit for a few hours waiting your turn behind countless other shoplifters.
If a gang is threatening you and your family you go to the police station and identify them totally separately from this, even though the police can't do anything unless the gang does something. Did you really think that you can just pay them off? Do that once and it never stops. Tape record yourself every time you go to the mailbox.
That's if you aren't inventing all this just in the hope of using it at court. The police might not even write down any names and open a file.

Better 'fess up early on. You have already lied to a police officer which could possibly result in another charge and if the judge discovers it on his/her own and realizes that you have essentially lied under oath- Katie, bar the door. Or maybe it should be in this case, Kassiedoll, there are bars on your door.

Calling the police on the gang--- yikes, I don't know either. Depends on a lot of info that we don't know, but if they made serious threats against your family--there is really no other choice.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by excon

Hello k:

Legally speaking, you're better off NOT telling anyone that story.. First off because NOBODY will believe it. And secondly, even IF they did, it WON'T help you with your charges.

I have NO idea how you should deal with your gang.

excon

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"How do I tell them that I'm really 19 and not 17? Before I have to go to court?"

Hello again, k:

Quote:

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"How do I contact them to tell them I'm 19 and not 17?"

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Why do you wanna HELP them SCREW you over???????? For starters, 19 is an ADULT. You'll be tried in ADULT where the punishment is MUCH more severe and your record will last FOREVER. 17 is a juvenile.. Juvenile court is where you WANT to be.

I'm SURE they'll find out on their own, but I certainly wouldn't HELP them.

If you wanna talk to somebody, HIRE a lawyer.

excon

Aha! A variety of the old "Nuremberg defense". Didn't work then; won't work now. :)

If they do not ask, or no one says, let it go at 17. Depending on locaation, giving false information to the police, as to name and age, can be a more serious crime.

So you may get more trouble for the lie about age, than a simple shoplighting would be.

Don't mention the gang, they did not make you do it, you had the choice and chose to do it. You oould have told family what was happening.

Guess what, after you stole, they would have blacked mailed you into more things, once they knew you were scared, they would have had you doing anything.