Halo Hollywood

Even if you are only facing what seems to be a petty charge such as a Summary Offense of retail theft or shoplifting, hiring a Los Angeles criminal defense attorney is always better than representing yourself in court. Even if the penalty isn’t that severe, still, this is your only chance to keep your records clean and avoid problems that may seriously affect you in the future.

Any conviction for summary offense of retail theft can remain on your criminal record for the rest of your life. This could affect your future opportunities of scholarships, apartment rentals, employment, and any situation where someone might conduct a simple background check on you. In addition to this, if the act of shoplifting ever happens again, you will be facing a second offense retail theft charge which is considered an automatic misdemeanor. This has a real risk of jail time and you will soon regret not taking every opportunity to have a Los Angeles attorney work for a dismissal and keep your record as clean as possible.

Often, there are several excellent legal defenses against shoplifting or retail theft charges. A good defense lawyer will question how the facts of the incident or the case apply to the statute. He may also probe whether or not the prosecution can prove that you deliberately attempted to steal anything from the store. Looking into the behavior of any store security personnel involved in the incident is also something a good defense lawyer might do in order to find out if they have some shortcomings in terms of securing the store.

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