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djdj12438 · Nov 7, 2008, 12:35 AM

I am 17 years old and I was caught shoplifting from meijer. I stole two watches and two bottles of colonge. This added up to a total of $70.00. But the two bottles of colonge were tester bottles which means it would be larceny from the company, because you can't sell tester bottles. In the state of Michigan would I be trialed as an adult of not? What do you think will happen to me? :(:eek:

Clough · Nov 7, 2008, 12:57 AM

Hi, djdj12438!

The first thing that I would suggest doing is calming down and "rolling with the punches" that you're going to get. You made a bad choice. You're not the only who has made a bad choice. Just please learn from the bad choice that you made and the subsequent results of making that choice.

Have you contacted an attorney about this matter? Also, did you tell your parents about this?

Thanks!

djdj12438 · Nov 7, 2008, 01:18 AM

Yes my parents do know and they are working on getting a lawyer I really just wanted to know if I would be trialed as an adult of minor.

17yo MI

Clough · Nov 7, 2008, 01:35 AM

I don't know the specific laws of Michigan. Shoplifting is something that's pretty common all over anywhere. Whether you would be tried as an adult or a minor would be at the discretion of the court. I would think that most likely, you would be tried as a minor.

If your going to be getting an attorney, the best thing that you can do is to be speaking with him or her. Your attorney will be able to negotiate a lot of things with the court. Also, your peace of mind is really going to be a result of what your attorney says and does. Worrying about this and staying up too late isn't going to help anything.

Until then, I would suggest that you get some sleep and be ready to face whatever challenges you might have to face tomorrow with a clear head after having had a good nights sleep. You can't change the past. But, you can prepare for the future trying as hard as you can to make it the best that it can be for you because you've adequately prepared for it in all the ways that you can.

We can only really guess here as to what might happen. It's really not much more than you could do.

Thanks!

JimGunther · Nov 8, 2008, 11:45 AM

As a person who worked in retail security for 13 years, I can tell you that, as a general rule, shoplifting does not fall into the category of offenses for which persons under 18 are tried as adults. This is commonly done only for serious offenses. Also, the fact that items are not available for sale (testers) is really not a factor in the case as they still have some value.

You did not mention whether you have been convicted of a crime before, this, of course is an important factor.

As others have mentioned, it is not really possible to predict what will happen, but in my years of experience a first offender shoplifter gets probation and a period of community service. In some cases the judge will offer to not impose a conviction if the person completes the probation successfully, this is called diversion or probation before judgement, depending on how the statute (if there is one) is worded.

Of course all this assumes that you are found (or plead) guilty and that there are no other circumstances involved, such as resisting arrest. I was involved in numerous cases where a first offender would have gotten probation and could have avoided a conviction, but since they attempted to knock my teeth out, they went to jail.

Good luck and I hope you will learn something of value from this incident.