Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

Re: Re:petty theft

pleading guilty guarantees you get a criminal record that will affect your employment chances. Get an attorney and try to fight it or negotiate a plea bargain that doesn't do so. Feel free to contact me if this is in SoCal courts.

Re: Re:petty theft

A guilty plea can have life long implications, you should consider talking with a private attorney about this plea before you do it. This will follow you, and possibly for the rest of your life affect you.

JDH

Re: Re:petty theft

Convicted thieves don't get jobs, ever, not even bad ones. Don't let anybody (like a public defender) tell you you can have your record expunged down the road, the names of thieves go into a special theft database forever. Now is the time to fight the charge if you can. Borrow the money for a lawyer if you have to.

Re: Re:petty theft

It is occasionally a good idea to plead guilty, but without more information there is no way to say whether your case presents such an occasion.

You should definitely get a lawyer to represent you; even if you do end up pleading guilty, a lawyer may be able to get you a reduced charge and/or a less severe sentence. It's very unlikely that you could obtain such a result for yourself.