Grand Theft Charge - Help!

[tatiana1]

If a person is arrested for grand theft and the person that reported the item stolen does not want to press charges, can the State prosecute anyway? The person that took the item admitted to police that they had taken it.

 

[seniorjudge]

Q: If a person is arrested for grand theft and the person that reported the item stolen does not want to press charges, can the State prosecute anyway?

A: Yes. You need a lawyer. If you cannot afford to hire a lawyer, one will be provided for you (usually a public defender).

 

[tatiana1]

Yes. You need a lawyer. If you cannot afford to hire a lawyer, one will be provided for you (usually a public defender).

I was not charged. It was my son. Do they always proceed or do they sometimes drop the charges if there are unusual circumstances?

 

[CdwJava]

Sometimes they might drop the charges ... but, why should the state drop them? They have a crime and a confession - it seems they have a pretty strong case to at least ask for probation, community service, etc. A deferred entry of judgment may be possible depending on the laws in your un-named state. He's not likely to just skate out of this one, though.

Hopefully he will learn from it so that he never does it again!

- Carl

 

[tatiana1]

A deferred entry of judgment may be possible depending on the laws in your un-named state. - Carl

We are in Florida. What is a deferred entry of judgment? The detective that arrested him told him that if the victim requested the charges to be dropped they would be. Then we heard different. The detective was very nice to my son and appeared to be trying to help him by not filing other charges (ie: dealing in stolen property and falsifying information to a pawn shop). My son took an Ipod from a "friend" over a year ago and sold it at a pawn shop. Was the detective just saying that the charges would be dropped to make my son feel better? Does the officer's arrest report have any bearing on if the State goes through with this? We are in a small town and the police and courts are a bit more "friendly" than in the big city near us.