Legal Question in Criminal Law in Massachusetts

Hi, I got caught shoplifting at Kohl's in Michigan and went to court, paid all my fines off and everything's done now. So now I get a letter in the mail saying I have to pay $200 to Kohl's for "civil actions." I thought the money i paid to the courthouse was part of the money I had to give to Kohl's... and that's why I pay the courthouse, so they can give that money to Kohl's. I tore off the tags of the clothes i stole from there but when I called the Kohls' lawyer's who sent me the letter, they stated it is a totally different case separate from the courthouse and that it was because of my "actions" and how I did it. I find this hard to believe that because i tore the tags off the clothes it could result in $200 in extra fines. I already paid $400 plus to the courthouse and they said I am totally finished and done with everything. The judge never told me I had to pay the department store. If I don't pay they said they're going to take me to court and sue me. Please help!!


Asked on 10/12/10, 3:34 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Dominic Pang The Law Office of Dominic L. Pang

The money you paid at the courthouse was probably to cover court fines and fees. In most shoplifting cases, the defendant is subjected to exposure on 2 fronts: criminal and civil. In many states, the store can seek monetary damages from the person caught shoplifting in a civil action that is separate from any criminal proceeding. Failure to pay the civil demand has no impact on the criminal case, and paying the civil demand will not help the criminal case. Stores send out these civil demand letters because they are money makers; for every person who pays up, there are many people who just ignore the demand and since it costs the store very little to send out a demand letter, the store only needs a few positive responses to make money. The store threatens to sue if you don't pay, but in many cases, it just is not worth the time and effort to sue and out-of-state party for $200, much less the expense involved in actually collecting any judgment.

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Answered on 10/21/10, 12:35 pm


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