Petty Theft under $50 infraction: Questions...

[Mrs.J]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? California

Hi. My friend was accused of petty theft as she was leaving her job one night. She worked all day and was stressed about other things going on in her life. She had a lot on her mind, and she accidentally walked out to her car with a bag of a few items, forgetting to pay for them. When she realized it, she was about to go back inside to pay, when loss prevention stopped her and took her inside, to the back room. After interrogating her for over an hour the loss prevention guy convinced her that it would be best for her to admit that she took the items and tell the police that, since she has never been in trouble before. When the police arrives almost 3 hours later, she just told them what the loss prevention guy told her to say. They gave her a ticket to appear in court along with a fine. She was then fired from her job of over 8 years. She plans to fight the case in court and wants to get the charge dismissed or removed, as it can effect any future employment and has already effected her unemployment claim. What can she do, going into court, to get these charges dropped?
After researching a bit, I was thinking of trying to help her file a motion to to dismiss the charges and to file a motion to suppress the statement of the loss prevention guy because her "confession" was coerced. He intimidated her and scared her (she was afraid of going to jail) and held her there for 3 hours. Is that even legal? Can she fight this on her own, or does she NEED a lawyer (which she cannot afford)?
Please help.

 

[HomeGuru]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? California

Hi. My friend was accused of petty theft as she was leaving her job one night. She worked all day and was stressed about other things going on in her life. She had a lot on her mind, and she accidentally walked out to her car with a bag of a few items, forgetting to pay for them. When she realized it, she was about to go back inside to pay, when loss prevention stopped her and took her inside, to the back room. After interrogating her for over an hour the loss prevention guy convinced her that it would be best for her to admit that she took the items and tell the police that, since she has never been in trouble before. When the police arrives almost 3 hours later, she just told them what the loss prevention guy told her to say. They gave her a ticket to appear in court along with a fine. She was then fired from her job of over 8 years. She plans to fight the case in court and wants to get the charge dismissed or removed, as it can effect any future employment and has already effected her unemployment claim. What can she do, going into court, to get these charges dropped?
After researching a bit, I was thinking of trying to help her file a motion to to dismiss the charges and to file a motion to suppress the statement of the loss prevention guy because her "confession" was coerced. He intimidated her and scared her (she was afraid of going to jail) and held her there for 3 hours. Is that even legal? Can she fight this on her own, or does she NEED a lawyer (which she cannot afford)?
Please help.

**A: why was she dumb enough to follow the loss prevention guy's advice? Help her hire an attorney.

 

[swalsh411]

Why should they be dropped? She admitted to the police she stole. She should have remained silent.

 

[CdwJava]

They gave her a ticket to appear in court along with a fine.

The ticket would not have the amount of the fine on it. Did she get the fine information from the DA or the court?

She was then fired from her job of over 8 years.

Why? What kind of job did she have?

She plans to fight the case in court and wants to get the charge dismissed or removed, as it can effect any future employment and has already effected her unemployment claim. What can she do, going into court, to get these charges dropped?

What makes her think she can get the charges dropped? Why would the prosecutor care to drop the charges? She was caught, and she admitted to the crime.

After researching a bit, I was thinking of trying to help her file a motion to to dismiss the charges and to file a motion to suppress the statement of the loss prevention guy because her "confession" was coerced.

A motion must fit a very specific format and be filed properly. Does she know how to do this?

He intimidated her and scared her (she was afraid of going to jail) and held her there for 3 hours. Is that even legal?

Yes, she can be detained for the police when subject to a private person's arrest.

Can she fight this on her own, or does she NEED a lawyer (which she cannot afford)?
Please help.

If she hopes to have any chance of suppressing any statement, she'll likely need an attorney. Unfortunately, as this is an infraction, court appointed counsel is not going to happen. She really doesn't seem to have much of a defense, but she may lose little in fighting the offense. She might also want to check into the possibility of your county having a shoplifting diversion program. If such a program exists in her county, it might help her avoid the conviction ... though, the conviction will not be a part of any state criminal history as it is an infraction.

 

[Ohiogal]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? California

Hi. My friend was accused of petty theft as she was leaving her job one night. She worked all day and was stressed about other things going on in her life. She had a lot on her mind, and she accidentally walked out to her car with a bag of a few items, forgetting to pay for them. When she realized it, she was about to go back inside to pay, when loss prevention stopped her and took her inside, to the back room. After interrogating her for over an hour the loss prevention guy convinced her that it would be best for her to admit that she took the items and tell the police that, since she has never been in trouble before. When the police arrives almost 3 hours later, she just told them what the loss prevention guy told her to say. They gave her a ticket to appear in court along with a fine. She was then fired from her job of over 8 years. She plans to fight the case in court and wants to get the charge dismissed or removed, as it can effect any future employment and has already effected her unemployment claim. What can she do, going into court, to get these charges dropped?
After researching a bit, I was thinking of trying to help her file a motion to to dismiss the charges and to file a motion to suppress the statement of the loss prevention guy because her "confession" was coerced. He intimidated her and scared her (she was afraid of going to jail) and held her there for 3 hours. Is that even legal? Can she fight this on her own, or does she NEED a lawyer (which she cannot afford)?
Please help.

So you want to practice law without a license thus committing another crime in order to help your friend who did commit a crime?

 

[OHRoadwarrior]

She was not coerced, she was convinced. There is a difference.

 

[davew128]

She was not coerced, she was convinced. There is a difference.

And if she was told she would be free to go if she did that?

 

[Ohiogal]

And if she was told she would be free to go if she did that?

Legally that is not coercion. It is still considered that she voluntarily decided to admit to the theft.

 

[davew128]

Legally that is not coercion. It is still considered that she voluntarily decided to admit to the theft.

You're a woman being held against your will in a locked room by large men who don't wear badges and aren't going to let you call your attorney. Wanna try again?

 

[Zigner]

You're a woman being held against your will in a locked room by large men who don't wear badges and aren't going to let you call your attorney. Wanna try again?

She had 3 hours to wait for the police and also had the opportunity to tell the police that the big bad LP guy FORCED her to say it. No, not coercion.

 

[You Are Guilty]

My state requires "knowledge" of the confinement (meaning, a thwarted attempt to leave), but on a cursory review of CA tort law, I don't see a similar rule:

The crime of false imprisonment is defined by Penal Code section 236 as the "unlawful violation of the personal liberty of another." The tort is identically defined. (Molko v. Holy Spirit Assn. (1988) 46 Cal.3d 1092, 1123 [252 Cal. Rptr. 122, 762 P.2d 46].) As we recently formulated it, the tort consists of the "`nonconsensual, intentional confinement of a person, without lawful privilege, for an appreciable length of time, however short.'" (Ibid.) That length of time can be as brief as 15 minutes. (Alterauge v. Los Angeles Turf Club (1950) 97 Cal. App.2d 735, 736 [218 P.2d 802].) Restraint may be effectuated by means of physical force (Moffat v. Buffums' Inc. (1937) 21 Cal. App.2d 371, 374 [69 P.2d 424]), threat of force or of arrest (Vandiveer v. Charters (1930) 110 Cal. App. 347, 351 [294 P. 440]), confinement by physical barriers (Schanafelt v. Seaboard Finance Co. (1951) 108 Cal. App.2d 420, 423 [239 P.2d 42]), or by means of any other form of unreasonable duress. (See Rest.2d Torts, § 40A.)

716*716 (6) The only mental state required to be shown to prove false imprisonment is the intent to confine, or to create a similar intrusion. (Prosser & Keeton, Torts (5th ed. 1984) § 11, pp. 52-53; cf. Weaver v. Bank of America (1963) 59 Cal.2d 428, 433-435 [30 Cal. Rptr. 4, 380 P.2d 644] [bank's act of failing to honor check, inadvertently leading to the plaintiff's arrest and imprisonment, cognizable as a tort of negligence].) Thus, the intent element of false imprisonment does not entail an intent or motive to cause harm; indeed false imprisonments often appear to arise from initially legitimate motives. (See, e.g., Schanafelt v. Seaboard Finance Co., supra, 108 Cal. App.2d 420, 422-423 [judgment against defendant upheld where defendant used false imprisonment in repossession of plaintiff's furniture after payment delinquency].)

(7) Merchants who detain individuals whom they have probable cause to believe are about to injure their property are privileged against a false imprisonment action. (Collyer v. S.H. Kress & Co. (1936) 5 Cal.2d 175, 180-181 [54 P.2d 20].) The detention itself must be carried out for a reasonable time and in a reasonable manner. Thus, this court upheld a 20-minute detention of a department store customer whom store personnel had probable cause to suspect was in the process of stealing merchandise, and who was being held until the police arrived. (Ibid.) This common law privilege has been codified at Penal Code section 490.5, subdivision (f)(1): "A merchant may detain a person for a reasonable time for the purpose of conducting an investigation in a reasonable manner whenever the merchant has probable cause to believe the person to be detained is attempting to unlawfully take or has unlawfully taken merchandise from the merchant's premises." The Legislature made clear that the provisions of subdivision (f)(1) "do not constitute a change in, but are declaratory of, the existing law...." (Stats. 1976, ch. 1131, § 3, p. 5049.)

http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=14512845023278579594&q=california+coercion+"false+imprisonment"&hl=en&as_sdt=2,33

As things are always fact dependent, without an accurate portrayal of what happened in the back room, there really is no way to draw any valid conclusions here.

 

[davew128]

She had 3 hours to wait for the police and also had the opportunity to tell the police that the big bad LP guy FORCED her to say it. No, not coercion.

Forced 3 hours to wait for police, and nothing she said to the police with regards to any conversation with LP that might be to her benefit would help her. Its something unique to CA law about hearsay statements. Hearsay statements can be used by LEO to arrest you but nothing you say can help you.

 

[Zigner]

Forced 3 hours to wait for police, and nothing she said to the police with regards to any conversation with LP that might be to her benefit would help her. Its something unique to CA law about hearsay statements. Hearsay statements can be used by LEO to arrest you but nothing you say can help you.

How about "Thank God you're here! - they weren't letting me go and MADE me admit to something I didn't do in order to let me out of that horrible room."?

 

[tranquility]

It wouldn't be hearsay if it was purported to be said by the party opponent.

Sec. 1220 evidence code:

Evidence of a statement is not made inadmissible by the hearsay rule when offered against the declarant in an action to which he is a party in either his individual or representative capacity, regardless of whether the statement was made in his individual or representative capacity.

 

[Mrs.J]

OK, so to all of you with the sarcastic answers that didn't help at all, thank you so much for your input. I am sure your notes gave you the ego boost you obviously require in order to be able to look yourself in the mirror every day.

To those of you who are actually trying to help and give us some real info, I want to sincerely thank you.
My friend was scared and stressed and tired and she was told that she needed to just say that she took the items (which were a few food items costing less than $20, for her daughter's dinner.) She was told that she would be free to go and wouldn't get in trouble if she just admitted it. She was tricked. She knew that she had walked out of the store with the items BUT as soon as she realized it, she was going to go back inside to pay, but the loss prevention guy met her as she turned away from her car. Because she did walk out (unknowingly, at first) with the items, she already felt that she did something wrong, even though it was an honest mistake. This and what the LP guy said is why she ended up saying she did it.

CdwJava,

The ticket would not have the amount of the fine on it. Did she get the fine information from the DA or the court?

She got the info online when looking up the citation number.

Why? What kind of job did she have?

She worked in a grocery store. SHe had just come off of being on strike, and she suspects that the store is singling out those who have been there longer and get paid more and finding excuses to fire them in favor of newbies who make less $$.

What makes her think she can get the charges dropped? Why would the prosecutor care to drop the charges? She was caught, and she admitted to the crime.

She didn't have intent to steal the items. It was an honest mistake. She was tricked and intimidated by the LP guy. SHe was also too trusting, with him telling her to just admit it and she would be fine.

A motion must fit a very specific format and be filed properly. Does she know how to do this?

No. I am guessing a lawyer is needed, then?

Yes, she can be detained for the police when subject to a private person's arrest.

Even for 3 hours?

If she hopes to have any chance of suppressing any statement, she'll likely need an attorney. Unfortunately, as this is an infraction, court appointed counsel is not going to happen. She really doesn't seem to have much of a defense, but she may lose little in fighting the offense. She might also want to check into the possibility of your county having a shoplifting diversion program. If such a program exists in her county, it might help her avoid the conviction ... though, the conviction will not be a part of any state criminal history as it is an infraction.

So... it wouldn't hurt to try to fight it? And if she IS convicted it doesn't go on her record?