Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

Re: Shoplifting/expungement/realestate license

You throw out a number of questions:

1) There are two recording systems for criminal records, state and nationwide,, often the agency only requests state wide record, which is free,, so your record may not show up,, especially if it was only a misdemeanor, and relatively old.

2) whether you can expunge your out of state record will depend upon that state's law,, and whether it will protect you from a prior conviction is also dependent upon that state's law. in california, the expungement does not prevent them from using the prior conviction, and in california the petty theft with a prior petty theft where the defendant served jail time can be elevated to a felony,, so watch out,,pdm

as to your prior record, most local agencies have a procedure to allow you to obtain your criminal record,, and through the prosecutor's office you can obtain your record,,,good luck pdm

Re: Shoplifting/expungement/realestate license

I'll try to answer your questions in order. Please understand that there are space limitations here, so my answers are necessarily going to be brief. Some of these issues are too nuanced to explain well, so these answers are only guidelines.

1. The Ohio prior -- and I assume it is a conviction and not just an arrest -- will probably show up but there is a real chance that it won't.

Bear in mind that, under California law, a second petty theft can be prosecuted as a felony. If the prosecutor learns of your Ohio prior he may decide to do this. You need a lawyer. Now.

2. Whether you can have the Ohio record expunged is a question of Ohio law, so I don't know the answer. Even if it can be expunged, that process will probably take time and may not be completed in time to prevent the prior from being used against you in this case -- or from being an issue with the real estate licensing authorities.

3. With two theft-related arrests including one that's very recent, you very well might be unable to become licensed. If you try to conceal the existence of either of these arrests you will probably be committing perjury, which is also a basis for denial of a license and which may well lead to another prosecution.

4. The sale price of the items is worth arguing in court but may not have any real impact.

5. Miranda usually applies only to police. If you were apprehended by store security then they do not have to read you your rights. Even if your Miranda rights were violated, the only consequence is that statements you made after you were in custody cannot be used against you. Your case can proceed and you can be convicted if there is enough other evidence.

6. Since you aren't clear who "they" (the police? the store?) are I'm not sure how to respond.

Is your life "trashed"? That depends on how you define the term. Even if you can't become a realtor there are lots of other jobs available to you, and plenty of people with records lead reasonably normal lives.