• FreeAdvice has a new Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, effective May 25, 2018.
    By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our Terms of Service and use of cookies.

Inside Retail Theft - Michigan

Accident - Bankruptcy - Criminal Law / DUI - Business - Consumer - Employment - Family - Immigration - Real Estate - Tax - Traffic - Wills   Please click a topic or scroll down for more.

circuitshatty

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? Michigan

I was fired approximately 3 months ago for allegedly stealing from my employer. Here's the story. I was called into a room with the LP Manager where he bull****ted with me for a few minutes and then pretty much pressured me into confessing to stealing. He said that he had me on camera stealing a bunch of things, and because our store had a high "shrink" percentage, he believed that it was myself taking all of the missing merchandise. He can up with "estimates" and I emphasize the word "estimate" of about $11000 that he wanted to get me with and I signed a confession and restitution agreement under the agreement that we made that I could still get unemployment, i would not be charged criminally if I paid the restitution back in monthly installments and also that all of the information about what happens would be kept confidential. The store manager was the only other person who would know because he had to sign the papers as well. Well, about a month later, my unemployment gets cancelled because they protested it, I get a letter in the mail saying that paying the civil demand will not protect me from being charged criminally and everybody that I worked with knows what allegedly happened and were told I was fired for theft. So pretty much the LP guy ****ed me over. Now the LP guy does have my eBay account name so they noticed a few items on there that happened to be missing from the store, is this sufficient evidence to use in court or is it just heresay because the items I sold can no way be traced back to the store. And can my confession be thrown out since at the time I signed it I was under the influence of the medication's "Vicodin" and "Skelaxin" which were prescribed to me for the pain when I fell down a flight of a stairs and also continued to use after suffering a broken ankle later on. Hypothetically speaking, if I suspect they really do have me on camera and the most merchadise I believe that have on camera is only $800, what are my chances in court on getting off completely or having the restitution knocked way way down. This is my first offense, I have no prior convicitions or a criminal record.
 


garrula lingua

Senior Member
quote:
what are my chances in court on getting off completely or having the restitution knocked way way down.

Your chances are not good - I'd say 99.9% you'll be found guilty of embezzlement and have to serve some jail time, as well as pay restitution.

quote:
And can my confession be thrown out since at the time I signed it I was under the influence of the medication's "Vicodin" and "Skelaxin" which were prescribed to me for the pain
No. You confessed, verbally and in writing.
Vicodin doesn't make an honest person confess to thefts he didn't do.
(And vicodin doesn't make a dishonest person confess.)

There's the written confession, and the store manager and the loss prevention officer can testify against you, and ..oh, there's a video ... you're cooked.
 

circuitshatty

Junior Member
Even if they only have a couple of hundred dollars worth physically on camera, you still think I'll have to pay back what they are asking; even when the LP Manager just wrote down "estimates" of what he thought I was taking?! He has no physical proof of the total they are asking for, I know this for certain. The store manager didn't do anything but come into the room after it was all done and sign some papers.

Is the confession alone enough evidence in court to convict me for the total they are asking for?
 

calatty

Senior Member
They don't need video evidence at all. Your confession and circumstantial evidence that stuff was missing and you had the opportunity to take it will be more than enough to convict you.
 

Find the Right Lawyer for Your Legal Issue!

Fast, Free, and Confidential
data-ad-format="auto">
Top