If you have been arrested or given a ticket for shoplifting, you must know how Georgia's shoplifting laws apply to you and what your best chances are for keeping (or recovering) your clean record. In Georgia, a misdemeanor or felony shoplifting arrest is forever. This means that as soon as your mugshot is taken and your fingerprints rolled, your arrest information will be available for the world to see indefinitely, unless corrective action is taken. Similarly, if you were only given a ticket, your record will still show your shoplifting charge, unless you can get the charge dismissed by the court prosecutor.
How we Fight Shoplifting Arrests:
After a shoplifting arrest, our top priority is to put you in the best position to have your record cleared of the charge after your case is finalized. At our first meeting, we will give you suggestions, depending on where your case is pending, on what you may start doing to help in our negotiations with the prosecutor. After being hired, we will pull all police reports and records of your arrest so we can be prepared when negotiating on your behalf. While all courts use different terminology, the goal in a first arrest shoplifting case is the same: to reach an agreement where you agree to certain requirements while the prosecutor agrees to dismiss the charge and restrict your record upon successful completion of everything.
How we Fight Shoplifting Tickets:
Fighting a shoplifting case where you were given a ticket is very similar, though the goal is to keep the prosecutor from requiring the charge to be transmitted to your record. Again, whether the particular court calls it a pretrial diversion, PTD, hold and clear, or something similar, we negotiate to have your case placed in one of these programs and eventually dismissed upon successful completion. Generally, if you were only given a ticket, and we are successful in having your case dismissed, there is no record to expunge or have restricted, though this can be tricky if your case was in a court with records online. (Make sure to specifically discuss with us the impact that online court and jail records could have on your case.)
We are Shoplifting Defense Attorneys
With over 20 combined years of experience, our attorneys know Georgia's shoplifting laws inside and out and will put our experience to work on your case.
If you have been arrested for misdemeanor or felony shoplifting charges, call us today at (770) 676-1340 to discuss your case and learn our strategy for defending the charges.