Legal Question in Criminal Law in Mississippi

Can a warrant be issued? Certainly. If you have been charged with a crime you need to seek legal representation

Anyone can apply for a Warrant for the arrest of another individual. A lot will depend on who is making the application and what is being provided in the way of information to the law enforcement department or Judge at the time the person seeks to obtain an arrest warrant. I do not know if the proof of the tag alone in Mississippi would suffice. A lot would depend on the proof provided to the Judge prior to the time of trial and at trial. For Example: If the Loss Prevention Officer had a Warrant issued to the owner of the vehicle and the owner of the vehicle happened to be the exact same person who the Loss Prevention Officer identified as the culprit responsible for the "Shoplifting" then the next question would be "who else could have been driving the vehicle?" and if the sole evidence as to identification comes from the license plate the Prosecution may have a problem proving the case. Another MAJOR concern is the abandonment of the "crime" by abandoning the merchandise prior to flight from the store. If the property was never "Concealed" then there is a real factual question dealing with the intent on the part of the "culprit" to shoplift the goods from the start. I can pick up a shirt and carry it around the store and change my mind about purchasing the shirt so If I place the shirt elsewhere I would never be guilty of Shoplifting. On the other hand if the merchandise in your case was concealed and the Loss Prevention Officer made some overt act to apprehend the alleged shoplifter who THEN discarded the merchandise it may be such that a shoplifting offense had transpired because "concealment" creates presumption of the intent to defraud the merchant of his inventory or property. As the previous advisor stated if you are charged with a crime you need to contact legal representation immediately.