ok, its a long story. my girlfriend who is a VERY clean cut woman, as honest a it gets, never stole or hurt anything in her life kinda screwed up the other day. she is in a higher position at an american eagle store. one day her boobs were really hurting her so she put on a bra from the store (I know.. techincally this is stealing and wrong), she wore it all day. and returned it the next morning. not on the shelf, but she put it in the returned/damaged items section to get returned to american eagle or something. she says the employees there above and below her there do that sort of thing all the time. the next day she got into an argument with a manager for leaving the floor a little too wet when she mopped it. the manager called her uneducated which hurt her and she quit. now understand that my girlfriend is a 25 year old, professional, mature, intelligent woman with class. not the average spoiled barfly that you see nowadays. I know she kinda screwed up, and im not looking for sympathy. I am looking for legal advice as to whats going to happen. for some reason she mentioned how she "borrowed" a bra and returned it. this is when things went downhill. now she basically has a theft under 1000$ charge, and a fraud charge (for ringing it into the register or something like that). for borrowing a 30$ bra for the day/night, then returning it and being honest about it. I know she screwed up and shouldnt have done that. but I think calling the police, having her escorted, and charged over something so small, that she admitted to, that other employees do it all the time is a little excessive in my opinion. I am not looking for sympathy or girlfriend advice. I need legal advice here. she has court on sept 14th. she already pleaded guilty and admitted to taking the bra right off the start. her original intent was NOT to keep the bra. she just needed to use it because she was in pain, voluntarily returned it, and voluntarily admitted to it. does that really count as theft? is she really going to be punished like an actual thief who ruins peoples days and lives? whats the worse case scenario? best case scenario? is it worth getting a lawyer? I dont know much about this. all I know is its a waste of the cops and judges time over something like this. the only reason it got so far is because her and another manager got into an argument because the upper manager tried to belittle her once again and she finally stood up for herself. any other situation and she would have made her pay for the bra and then forget about it. thanks.
Fact is that she's guilty. It doesn't matter if she returned the bra. Not to mention that it's not professional business conduct. Position yourself in the customers' point of view, would you want to buy "used" item but claimed as "new". The other employees should also get fired. So if a place filled with scammers, is it OK to be a scammer just because other people are scamming? As for the lawyer, no, since she already admitted it, she can't win the case. I agree with you, calling the police, etc is too much, but that's not our call.
ok, these are not the kind of posts I am looking for. I know she is guilty. so does she. she voluntarily admitted to it. turns out had it out of the store for 5 hours. she worked until 2AM, went home, and was back at the store by 7AM and had it returned, not on the shelf. but thats not the point. it doesnt matter that its not professional business conduct, or a customers POV. I understand all that. so does she. we aren't stupid. I just need to know whats going to happen in court? what her punishment is going to be, if any? she is going to call my lawyer on monday and see what he has to say. we dont plan on hiring one over this. she has already said she is guilty. I cant believe they are wasting cops time and the judges time over something so small and dumb like this when there is real criminals out there.
Something isn't right with this story. If she "borrowed" it, why is there a fraud charge for ringing something into the register? With just the petty theft charge, and if she has never had any legal problems before, she would probably qualify for a diversion program - basically the charges will be dropped if she doesn't get into trouble within a set period of time. It also depends on the State where this happened, and even the judge in the case. If she has previous legal convictions, then anything could happen - including jail time.
I dont know exactly what the fraud charge is for. I think because it was marked as a returned item, but it was never sold in the first place.. or something like that. this is the kind of answer I was looking for, thank you. I am in canada so I believe our laws arent quite as strict as ones in the states. she has NEVER had any legal problems ever before, not even close.
So she filed a motion and the court allowed her to represent herself even though she has no clue about the law or possible punishments? Are you trying to tell us that the court allowed her to plead guilty to a crime without legal counsel? In criminal cases you have a lawyer. Either one appointed to you or you pay for your own. Assuming you are in the US, your story makes no sense.
This is a complete troll post. Binding undergarments (i.e. bras) don't feel good when you put them on. They lift tits and make them more visually appealing--they don't make them more comfortable. There's either nothing to this story--it didn't happen and the original poster is a complete troll or there's a lot more to this story--Ms. Soreboobs is a klepto with a record a mile long, punched her boss, has stolen thousands of dollars from this store and finally got caught--or something else which the poster has omitted. Lets leave the troll alone.
If you're in Canada, and you have told the whole story, I can't even imagine why the police would care enough to charge her. Also, there's no such thing as "a theft under 1000$ charge" in Canada. There's only a difference between under/over $5000.
alright, I guess I wasnt clear enough. this all happened like 5 days ago. she hasnt been to court yet. I think you assumed that. I am in CANADA. no, its not a troll post, youre just an idiot. it turns out I wasnt clear on exactly what she took. she WAS wearing a normal bra, but she wanted a sports bra. I dont know why, I dont have tits, I have no idea. thats not the point here. you couldnt be more wrong and its insulting. its sad when you cant even tell a guy that you have an intelligent, honest female that you love and have him believe you. society is so screwed up nowadays (especially the teen, early 20 females) that I dont know if I would believe them if they said that either. I know, thats what I said too. I guess its not the polices choice though. its the stores/victims choice. maybe the cop said theft under 5000$, and my girlfriend misheard or something, but I dont know. either way thats not the point. I am hoping the whole thing just gets dropped it is so insignificant and stupid and a waste of everyones time. she will pay a fine, give money to charity, community service, probation, whatever, just so it doesnt go on her perfectly clean record. borrowing a sports bra and taking it home for 4 hours shouldnt "ruin" a young professional girls future with a spotless record, especially if she voluntarily admitted to it.
Calling those who respond to you an "idiot" does not help your cause. Being a criminal case, it would be best to get a lawyer. A good lawyer can apply to the court to drop the case if it isn't serious. But it is hard to comment from what you have written. For every alleged wrong that she did, you basically cover it with praises etc. It would be more instructive to keep the post to the facts and keep your comments to yourself if you want relevant comments from our members here who are well versed in law.
Forgive me for not following, but your facts are inconsistent at best. If she hasn't been to court then she hasn't plead guilty yet either. So get a damn lawyer already before its too late. So again, as one of the few lawyers actually offering you advice ... Get a lawyer. You can wish and hope for a nice outcome, but you know what really helps that to actually happen? Getting a criminal defense lawyer when you are facing criminal charges.
You have neither tits nor brains but somehow I'm the idiot for calling bullshit on your bullshit. Allow me to give you another opportunity to call me an idiot, then immediately have you confirm what I said by backtracking. Here's a link: http://www.ae.com/web/search/searchResults.jsp?question=sports+bra American Eagle doesn't sell sports bras. Now before you re-retract your statement and say it was some other kind of bra--they don't sell those either. American Eagle doesn't sell any type of bra. You, your compulsive lying, your girlfriend and her kleptomania all deserve each other.
she didnt techincally "plead guilty" yet in court. she admitted to the cops that she did, she admitted to the store that she did. I think she wrote a statement and admitted to taking the bra out of the store without paying for a few hours. does that not count as pleading guilty? is it really worth paying a lawyer thousands over a 30$ bra? she cant afford it, especially as she has no job right now (she already has been offered a manager position at a major shoe store though, as well as about 4 other offers/interviews) and the court date is in a month. I keep telling her to call my lawyer.. I dont know why she hasnt yet. I think shes just scared and intimidated, doesnt know what to say, ask, or do. this is all a little overwhelming for her.. me too. wow you are a moron. I dont even know what to say. she works at ARIES by american eagle. sorry I didnt mention every last single fuckng detail. thats not whats important here. I came here hoping for legal advice, not some dickhead trying to pick apart my story and try to find a flaw or try to catch me lying. good luck with that bud. I am not lying, its a true story unfortunately. I can answer your lame ass questions all day long. now either cough up some legal advice orSTFU and leave!!! why would I come in here and make this shit up? use your head bud. I am embarrassed for you right now. nice try. compulsive lying. I cant believe how stupid some people are (my gf included)
and if she had a lawyer maybe she wouldn't be doing all that 'confessing' either. Well, you can look at it like that, but that would be silly. Your choice is not paying $30 or paying a lawyer. The choice is paying for a lawyer or dealing with the financial and criminal penalties that she may face. Well, that seems to be the core of your problem, eh?
no, she wanted to confess. she wanted to do the right thing. believe it or not, she is a good, true, 100% honest human being. thats why I love her so much and am trying to help her so much. she is 1 in a million. she doesnt want to plead not guilty, and lie, and cheat the system. no. she wants to take the honest route and hope that she is not fully punished for making a small mistake, then being honest about it. she doesnt have her own lawyer, she never has needed one, or even came close. she as no idea how the court/justice system works. I do a little bit, unfortunately. her mom told her she could get 6 months in jail from this!! LMFAO. now she is so scared. I think she is going to wait until I am back home from work on monday and call my lawyer with her and see what he says/recommends. I just wanted to get a little bit more information from you guys first. ive got a almost perfect record too so I dont have much experience dealing with cops and judges and lawyers and all that stuff. I/we are concerned about her record and future from this. she has no problem with a fine, donation to charity, community service, probation, or anything else she might have to do. just as long as this isnt on her record. its not fair at all. it looks horrible for such a small, stupid mistake that had no initial bad intentions. I was told that theft is taking something with initial plans of not returning it or keeping it. that was NOT what she was doing. she was just sore and figured it wouldnt be a big deal if she wore one for a few hours and brought it back. it was a last second decision, she didnt pre plan it, and she never intended on keeping it, not even close. morally that might be wrong/gross, but is she a criminal deserving of a criminal record over this? I dont think so. I hope the court system agrees.
blah blah blah ... If she wants to end up with community service, get a lawyer. If you are looking for people to chat with, carry on.