What shows on a background check?

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

I am up to go to court in Oct. for a petit larceny at a retail store. I am so nervous and scared, I do not know what will happen or what the result of my record will be. This is the very first offense I have ever had (and never will I do something so stupid every again).

I am looking for a better paying job but a lot of these jobs require a background check. So when an employer or State pulls your name or fingerprints for a background check, what information do they see? Do they just see a petit larceny? Will it show the dollar amount or just that it was a petit larceny? And if the charge gets dropped to a lesser charge (disorderly conduct), will the petit larceny still show in there somewhere from the arrest?

I'm still confused on an arrest...I thought with an arrest you always get rights spoken to you (you have the right to remain sielent, ect.), but that wasn't said to me. I was just taken (in handcuffs) to a police station, fingerprinted, photo taken, and given an apperance ticket. I assume it was an arrest with the fingerprints and photo but I guess I just thought the rights were supposed to be said for an offical arrest.

I would just like to know what shows up on a background check if anyone could tell me.

First of all I want to state that I live in PA and the comments I make are reflective of only my experience in that state. I am responsible for running background checks on many of the applicants that our company employs. When we run a background check we search for only misdemeanors and felonies that a person has. A lot of small crimes are considered summary offenses and these do not show up on the background checks we do (just like a speeding ticket won't show up). A larger corporation may do a more in depth search. You should be sure to ask your attorney, the judge, or the arresting officer what the offense is going to be listed as. In answer to another one of your questions, the specifics of the crime do not appear on the official record we search. If someone stole from a retail store it would show up with only the charge they were found guilty of, be it "Retail Theft" or "Theft by Unlawful Taking." It is during the interview process with an employer that you would discuss the circumstances surrounding the charges.

In answer to the latter part of your question regarding police interrogation you should definitely do some research. Police are required to read you Miranda warnings only if they intend to question you and wish to use your answers in a court of law. Do a Google search on Miranda v. Arizona which outlines the fundamentals of the Miranda warnings and why they were deemed necessary. I thought the exact same thing as you when I was 17 and arrested for a charge that was eventually thrown out. I kept thinking "the officer never read me my rights, so I'm off the hook...right?" Take this as a learning experience and try to find answers to all the questions that you have regarding the whole legal process. The internet, your local public library, and your local courthouse should have the answer to almost everything you could ask. The more knowledgeable you are about the legal system, and in particular the rights that you have, the better you can defend yourself against the state and its unlimited resources.

Thank you so much for that information. It is very helpful.

I'm very nervous on the charges...I will never EVER put myself in this situation again, this was the biggest mistake of my life. I have 4 kids I need to help raise and I am searching for a good paying job, all require a background check. So all I think about is what have I done? Never again.

Any insight of what a first time offense decision would be? I'm just so scared. The value was close to $1,000 but not over so it was a petit larceny.

FF2155 said:

Thank you so much for that information. It is very helpful.

I'm very nervous on the charges...I will never EVER put myself in this situation again, this was the biggest mistake of my life. I have 4 kids I need to help raise and I am searching for a good paying job, all require a background check. So all I think about is what have I done? Never again.

Any insight of what a first time offense decision would be? I'm just so scared. The value was close to $1,000 but not over so it was a petit larceny.

Click to expand...

How many times had you stolen before without getting caught?

What statute are you charged under?

Background checks vary.

Some, like for security clearances in the military, show everything. The one run for a paper route is much less invasive.

By the way, if they witnessed the crime in progress, they probably didn't need to ask you if you did it prior to arrest.

cyjeff said:

Background checks vary.

Some, like for security clearances in the military, show everything. The one run for a paper route is much less invasive.

By the way, if they witnessed the crime in progress, they probably didn't need to ask you if you did it prior to arrest.

Click to expand...

cyjeff, I got great news. I just got cleared for a Secret!

muha. muHAHA.
muHAHAhaHHAHAHA!!!!

FF2155 said:

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

I am up to go to court in Oct. for a petit larceny at a retail store. I am so nervous and scared, I do not know what will happen or what the result of my record will be. This is the very first offense I have ever had (and never will I do something so stupid every again).

I am looking for a better paying job but a lot of these jobs require a background check. So when an employer or State pulls your name or fingerprints for a background check, what information do they see? Do they just see a petit larceny? Will it show the dollar amount or just that it was a petit larceny? And if the charge gets dropped to a lesser charge (disorderly conduct), will the petit larceny still show in there somewhere from the arrest?

I'm still confused on an arrest...I thought with an arrest you always get rights spoken to you (you have the right to remain sielent, ect.), but that wasn't said to me. I was just taken (in handcuffs) to a police station, fingerprinted, photo taken, and given an apperance ticket. I assume it was an arrest with the fingerprints and photo but I guess I just thought the rights were supposed to be said for an offical arrest.

I would just like to know what shows up on a background check if anyone could tell me.

Click to expand...

ProSePA answered the question adequately. Please be sure to get your offense reduced. It's the reduced offense that the check reveals, not the offense you were cited for.
I just got cleared for a Secret security clearance for DoD. Their check revealed every infraction I had. But bear in mind that the infractions started out as misdemeanors, that I got reduced down during the criminal procedure.

PMC the 1st said:

ProSePA answered the question adequately. Please be sure to get your offense reduced. It's the reduced offense that the check reveals, not the offense you were cited for.
I just got cleared for a Secret security clearance for DoD. Their check revealed every infraction I had. But bear in mind that the infractions started out as misdemeanors, that I got reduced down during the criminal procedure.

Click to expand...

How do you get it reduced down? Is it up to the judge? I go next week for court.

seniorjudge said:

How many times had you stolen before without getting caught?

What statute are you charged under?

Click to expand...

Will the amount of times prior be counted against you if you were not stopped? The security said they seen me 3 times before, but I was not stopped.

The statute is 155.25

FF2155 said:

How do you get it reduced down? Is it up to the judge? I go next week for court.

Click to expand...

Plead innocent to the charge. It's your right.
A new court date will be set. This is your arraignment. When you go there, the prosecution will give you another chance to either plead guilty and accept the pleaded-down charge, or to take it to jury trial (this time it's for real) and plead innocent a second time.
By the time you get to this phase, the prosecution will likely offer you something you both will readily agree on.

Take for example my charge of open container, a misdemeanor.
I went to court, plead innocent (even though the public defender said the officer was eager to see me in trial, he had a witness and of course the citation--this on top of the fact that I had an alcohol-related conviction prior to this), and a second court date was set. This time, for the trial by jury.
But when I arrived at the courthouse, there was no jury. There was no trial set up, either. I was placed in a room (looking very sharp, BTW) with the judge, the officer who cited me for open container, prosecutor and my public defender. After a while (after I insisted I wanted to take this to jury trial), the prosecutor offered my P/D a deal: plead guilty and have the charged reduced to disturbing the peace, an infraction (and a $70 fine).
I plead guilty to that reduced charge.

This is procedure (or should be) for anyone facing a misdemeanor charge. Why? Because, the consequences far outweigh the original charge. My open container charge--and let's get real here--was nothing. I was doing nothing different than what any other guy does when they get home: I was drinkin' a brew. The only difference is I was outside; most others drink it inside (even then there are exceptions. Football and baseball games would be two exceptions). But the consequences of the action of crackin' open a cool one is unfair: misdemeanor that stays on record for like ever, and a huge fine. Plus, it's a prior for a real alcohol-related charge, like DUI or something.

This is why we have to take our misdemeanors all the way to trial. If they wanna be anal about punishing a simple little 'offense' (if you can even call it that), then they better be prepared to not spare any expense at lugging 12 angry strangers as jurors into a packed courtroom at great expense to all concerned, including the taxpayers.

I agree they should clamp down on the bad guys like assaults, robberies and DUI's, but open container? C'mon!!!

FF2155 said:

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

I am up to go to court in Oct. for a petit larceny at a retail store. I am so nervous and scared, I do not know what will happen or what the result of my record will be. This is the very first offense I have ever had (and never will I do something so stupid every again).

I am looking for a better paying job but a lot of these jobs require a background check. So when an employer or State pulls your name or fingerprints for a background check, what information do they see? Do they just see a petit larceny? Will it show the dollar amount or just that it was a petit larceny? And if the charge gets dropped to a lesser charge (disorderly conduct), will the petit larceny still show in there somewhere from the arrest?

I'm still confused on an arrest...I thought with an arrest you always get rights spoken to you (you have the right to remain sielent, ect.), but that wasn't said to me. I was just taken (in handcuffs) to a police station, fingerprinted, photo taken, and given an apperance ticket. I assume it was an arrest with the fingerprints and photo but I guess I just thought the rights were supposed to be said for an offical arrest.

I would just like to know what shows up on a background check if anyone could tell me.

Click to expand...

I'm guessing "petit larceny" is the same basic thing as petty theft in other areas of this nation. IF it is, and if you allegedly jacked less than $500.00 of stuff, then it's a simple matter of pleading innocent. Demand your innocence, in fact come your court date. After you plead innocent (your P/D will say something like, "You're guilty of this, so the prosecutor is offering you no jail time and a $xxx fine if you plead guilty to petit larceny today. It's your choice. If you decide not to plead guilty, we can set up a trial date, but I cannot guarantee you that you'll be found innocent. In fact, the evidence shows you'll be found guilty at trial." Then you'll probably say something like, "What happens if I'm found guilty at trial?" The P/D will say something like, "Well, this is your first offense, and we can take that into consideration, but understand that if your found guilty at trial, the judge will throw the book at you. You'll probably do about six months--four months for good behavior..." And your P/D would be right. If you're found guilty at trial, you can expect to do some time.
How to get out of it?
The usual thing to do is to plead innocent on your court date, despite what your public defender tells you.
Another court date will be set up, this time it's your trial date. Only it won't be your trial date.
How will it not be your trial date when the judge says it's your trial date?
Well, when you do go in for your trial on the trial date, the jury won't be there. In fact, the only people that'll be there will be the police officer that cited you, some witnesses, the judge, your public defender and the prosecutor.
It's on that date you'll enter your guilty plea. But this will be after you get it reduced down to something like trespassing. Trespassing is still a misdemeanor, and you'll still have a huge fine to pay, but it sure beats something like petit larceny, which sounds almost gangsta-ish.
You might avoid all that bureaucracy if you absolutely and resolutely denounce any and all suggestions that you were guilty of the petit larceny charge on your court date. You can demand to your P/D something like, "I wanna talk to the prosecutor NOW!!! I am innocent, and he has no right to drag me into court like this!!!" Craziness like that might get you a reduced offer right then and there; you never know.

So the criminal procedure should be:

1. Go to your assigned court date.
2. Plead innocent when you're there, even though you'll be scared into pleading guilty.
3. Another court date will be set, this time for jury trial.
4. Go to your jury trial, looking sharp and bringing witnesses, documents that shed reasonable doubt, etc.
5. When there, you won't go to jury trial; instead, you'll be offered a reduced charge if you plead guilty.
6. Plead guilty to the reduced charge.
7. Don't forget to tell the Judge to have a nice day, and thank the police officer at being so diligent in his work.

Forget what you learned in history class when you were told the Constitution guarantees the right to a jury trial. See Duncan v. Louisiana where J. White stated in his majority opinion: "...we hold no constitutional doubts about the practices, common in both federal and state courts, of accepting waivers of jury trial and prosecuting petty crimes without extending a right to jury trial."

In Lews v. United States J. O'connor stated in her majority opinion: "While penalties such as probation or a fine may infringe on a defendant's freedom, the deprivation of liberty imposed by imprisonment makes that penalty the best indicator of whether the legislature considered an offense to be "petty" or "serious." An offense carrying a maximum prison term of six months or less is presumed petty, unless the legislature has authorized additional statutory penalties so severe as to indicate that the legislature considered the offense serious."

So why does this effect you?

§ 155.25. Petit larceny

- A person is guilty of petit larceny when he steals property.

Petit larceny is a class A misdemeanor.

A class A misdemeanor is punishable by up to 6 months in prison.


CPL § 340.40 provides that in New York City, and in local criminal courts of cities with populations of 150,000 or more, jury trials would not be required in cases where maximum penalty was 6 months or less. So if you are being tried in New York City then it would appear that you do not have the right to a jury trial with the charge you currently face.

If you are not being tried in New York City and you demand a jury trial, the prosecution can simply lower the charge to "attempted petit larceny" which would be a class B misdemeanor, which is punishable by up to 3 months in prison and thus not entitled to a jury trial.

Hiring an attorney licensed in New York and familiar with New York laws is your best option at this point.

To answer your question, what shows on a background check depends on what information the employer asks for. It is not a one-size-fits-all sitution like so many people think. All background checks are not created equal.