Legal Question in Criminal Law in Michigan

If you are in a retail store with a friend and you buy a cup of coffee and return to the car, the friend is caught stealing, can you be charged with retail fraud as well?


Asked on 3/21/12, 10:21 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

Neil O'Brien Eaton County Special Assistant Prosecuting Attorney

Could you be charged? Yes. Could you be convicted? That depends on whether there is believable proof that you knew that your friend was going to commit or had committed the crime and then you gave him help to either commit the crime or get away from the crime. It's a combination of your knowledge, your actions and your intent. We don't know more than what you said, but it is possible that there are more facts than what you have told us.

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Answered on 3/22/12, 6:18 am


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