My friend and I were charged together. The total was almost 1400 and we both recently turned 18. This is our first offence and we both have never had any run ins with the police. Our court date is next week and I was wondering what we should expect? We do not have a lawyer.

I know what we did was wrong and trust me we have both spent these past 2 months with sleepless nights thinking about what we did and are both extremely embarrassed and ashamed of ourselves

A lot depends on the mood the judge is in that day... they could just as easily throw the book at you as slap you on the wrist. However it's a lot more serious as an adult than it would have been if you were a kid.

WHat country and state? It will affect what options they have.

I'm from Ontario Canada. There's only 2 types of charges: Theft under 5000 and theft over 5000

Also my friend had been charged before with 3000$+ worth of stuff. The only difference is she was 17 at the time but she was let off with diversion

Your friend has a second offence then. She will not fair so good, it won't be diversion this time for her. You being associated with her may not be good for you in court. Get a lawyer.

This is and can be serious. First you want the cases separated, if possible, since your partners additional thefts, could hurt you at sentencing. Association of guilty... happens all the time

And yes. It can even depend if Judge had a fight with his wife, that night, or if traffic was bad, and so on. Also, there may be 5 judges in a area, two sentence very hard,, one very good.

The "crown" or prosecutor, is not there to help you... The police are not there to help you... they are there to convict you, or get you to plead guilty.. unless you have a promise of a plea deal, you plead not guilty and get an attorney appointed