Shoplifting

[gg2452]

What is the name of your state? - Current State - New Jersey

Incident - Washington State. ..


IN the Spring of 2003, My Cousin was arrested at a Bookstore for Shoplifting charges. He pleaded not guilty with the court and the Book Store signed a misdemeanor paper and he submitted it to the court and paid the court fees. Did that go on his account as a felony / criminal record? I think Bookie's signing the misdemeanor letter means that they dropped the charges against him?

Now some years from that unfortunate event, he is into business and trying to acquire a check cashing place. There is a application for acquiring its license and it has a question -

Have you been arrested, indicted, convicted or pleaded "nolo contendere" to any offense, crime, or misdemeanor (other than a motor vehicle violation) in this state, any other state, or any federal jurisdiction in the five-year period preceding this application? Yes ___ No ____

What should his answer be for that question? Thanks so much for taking time to help us..What is the name of your state?

[garrula lingua]

Well, it sounds as though he has a conviction for misdemeanor petty theft.

There was some kind of conviction, or he would not have had to pay any fines.

There is a slight chance that the Prosecutor reduced the charge to an infraction - the only way cousin can confirm this is to go to the court (with the case number, or they can probably look it up by name and date of birth) and ask the clerk to look it up and advise him as to the disposition of the case & what crime, if any, he was convicted.

[gg2452]

thanks garrula lingua , for taking time to reply ..

the thing is that we are now in NJ and that happened in the State of WA , all the way in west coast ..

Would it be possible to look it up on the web or something like that might pop up in his background check report ? looking for background on the web, costs some 50 bucks or so and am not sure if they are the same records that cops n state officials have access to ?

thanks for any help in this matter ...

[garrula lingua]

It doesn't matter what state it happened in. Wa is still part of the Union.

The conviction will follow him - his rap sheet will reflect multi-state convictions.

Law enforcement will always see it; the banking industry will see it; private background checks may or may not see it - it depends on their thoroughness.

Penalties are similar among the states, with the exception of some states that offer a deferred adjudication on a first offense (diversion, no conviction).

However, if he is convicted he has to admit it, if asked on an employment app. (or he can, later, be dismissed from the job for a false statement)

[tranquility]

The answer to the question is "yes".

If you had a court date, you were previously arrested. I would change my answer if you had some proof in your possession that the charge was reduced to an infraction, but the burden would be on you to prove it if the state questioned you later.

I would never lie on such an application. If you are really confused about what happened, go to a private detective and have them research it. However, even a cursory search, like the one where you pay $50 bucks on the internet, should show something up.

[Bretagne]

Most states have some on-line resources where you can get a criminal records check. Usually going right to the state agency is cheaper than hiring a private detective.

See if this gives you any leads:

[url]http://www.wsp.wa.gov/crime/crimhist.htm[/url]

If you've got the license application correctly cited, then yes, it looks as though he must check the box "yes".

But he should be sure first. He can call up the court at the district where he went to court and they can find his file from his name and birthdate and send him a copy of the file (for a fee). Then he can have an attorney review to see if he pled, and if so, to what.

There's always a chance that there was some type of alternate adjudication at play, maybe a formal diversion program or a continuance for dismissal. You said he was arrested at the bookstore, which means that he would have to check the "yes" box. But maybe he was only given a citation, not arrested, in which case he might not have to check "yes".

[gg2452]

THanks all for taking time to help me with my questions ...

here is something solid i found , now if someone could interpret the legal language it would be more than i could ask for ..

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Case No .. XXXXX

ORDER OF DISMISSAL PER COMPROMISE OF MISDEMEANOR

Findingss
The court finds that good couse exists to grant the Motion to Dismiss based on the written Acknowledgement in Support of Compromise of Misdemeanor.

ORDER
IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that the above entitled cause is dismissed, conditioned upon Defendant's immediate payment of $ XXX .. in court costs.


Signed by Judge ...

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

now does that mean the case was dropped altogether ? or does it mean there is still misdemeanor (criminal charges) on the account ?

And now how would i asnwer to the main question -

Have you been arrested, indicted, convicted or pleaded "nolo contendere" to any offense, crime, or misdemeanor (other than a motor vehicle violation) in this state, any other state, or any federal jurisdiction in the five-year period preceding this application? Yes ___ No ____


thank you all for being such a help ..

[garrula lingua]

I would keep a certified copy of that document in my safe.

It means the case was dismissed; there is no conviction.
Apparently, the court did a 'civil compromise' on the case.
That's very unusual, and very lucky for you.

If asked, you were never convicted of a misdemeanor (or felony, I presume).

Law enforcement will still see the original charge and the outcome - If you apply for any law enforcement, or high-security job with the gov., they'll ask about it.
Otherwise, you appear to be home free.

Keep that certified copy..

[gg2452]

umm , so theres still something on the record and to completely wipe it out , we would need to get it expunged ?

wht would be the procedure getting a record expunged in the state of WA ?

thanks for all ur help ..

[gg2452]

if u have been following this post, you might be able to help me out.

Case No .. XXXXX

ORDER OF DISMISSAL PER COMPROMISE OF MISDEMEANOR

A friend in WA tried to check the records on file at the court and they didnt find anything? shouldnt the court have some info, that case was filled but dismissed ?

The clerk asked to inquire at the city police and they didnt have anything on their record either .. and they refered my friend to the university's campus police who made the arrest. at the campus police station, the clerk found the record with arrest being made for a misdemeanor and that the case was dismissed .. she did mention that after 7 years they destory such records n this might also get destroyed .. she asked to request a record at [url]https://watch.wsp.wa.gov[/url] which maintains all criminal history and provides access to anyone for a fee of 10 bucks .. i tried it for my cousins record and it returned - No Record Found

but its still bugging me that there are some files out there with my cousins fingerprints n records showing arrest was made n all .. . wht should i do next..

i m sorrie for taking up ur time but its really bothering me. i hope to resolve it for good. thanks ..

[garrula lingua]

A guess:
the campus police used their own form of diversion.
They never called the real cops.
A case was never filed.

Was your friend ever fingerprinted and photoed ?

[gg2452]

yes, they did fingerprint n photograph him ..

the town being small, campus police has jurisdiction, pretty much all over the town or something like that , i belive ..

arent they required to send all fingerprints n photo reports or something known as rapsheet to the state ? n then it should appear in the search done at [url]https://watch.wsp.wa.gov[/url]

[Bretagne]

There's nothing you can do about his prints on file. Many people's prints are on file in the national database--even if you've never been arrested! Do you remember a time when you were in grade school when the local law enforcement came around and took everyone's prints? Parents and kids were told it was a safety measure, to help if a kidnapping occurred. But that's not really true--they just got a ton of prints to enter into the national fingerprint database.

Yes, it sounds as though no conviction was ever entered. And it's probably not even worth the money to get it expunged. He should just feel lucky and treat this like his "get out of jail free" card.