Fairfax Shoplifting Lawyer
If you have been charged with shoplifting anywhere in Fairfax County, it is essential that you talk to an attorney as soon as possible to ensure that you get a fair trial and that your rights are protected.Shoplifting is a type of larceny and a crime of moral turpitude, meaning that a conviction and the criminal record that follows can impact your ability to get a job, credit, even admission to college or graduate school. In Virginia, a criminal conviction stays on your record for life.
The Law Office of Faraji Rosenthall has helped many people accused of shoplifting avoid convictions. Even some Fairfax grand larceny charges can be reduced, given the right circumstances. But it is essential that you call a shoplifting lawyer soon after being arrested. If there is evidence that will help your case, it may not be available forever. Particularly if live surveillance camera footage exists, the evidence is not under the control of the police. Preparing properly for a shoplifting trial takes time, so call and let us begin working on your shoplifting case defense immediately.
Fairfax Shoplifting Day in Court
If you are facing a Fairfax petit larceny or a Fairfax shoplifting charge, you may benefit from participating in the Opportunities, Alternatives, and Resources (OAR) program. The OAR program, an excellent opportunity available in Fairfax and few other jurisdictions, allows for guilty people to have their case dismissed if they complete 47 hours of community service and a three-hour anti-theft class.This is unusual because under Virginia law, a conviction is typically on your record for life. A dismissal, or the removal of a conviction from a person’s record, is not usually available if someone is found guilty, but the OAR program is one of the exceptions to this punishing rule. If you are eligible for the program and are accepted in, your case is rescheduled for about six months to allow for completion of the program. You will have to return to court at the end of the six months to make sure the proper paperwork has been completed for the dismissal. In addition to community service and the class, you must also stay out of trouble for that six-month period.
In court, the judge will begin by first calling all the people who are eligible for the program. It’s often referred to as an interview, but it’s actually more of an information session – an opportunity for an OAR employee to discuss the program and what is expected of participants. After completing the interview, you return to the courtroom and wait for the judge to recall your case.
The judge will only call cases involving people who don’t have lawyers, also known as proceeding pro-se. If you have hired a lawyer, you will need to wait for your lawyer to talk to the prosecutor about your case. This conversation between the defense attorney and the prosecutor is of great benefit to you, because the prosecutor has great discretion on how a case proceeds. But they rarely, if ever, seek punishments greater than authorized under the OAR program, so it’s uncommon that the punishment is increased. However, a prosecutor frequently is willing to authorize a lesser punishment for defendants.
