Legal Question in Criminal Law in Missouri

Re: Criminal Defense

Yes, the civil payment is a matter of statute, so it will need to be paid. Also, your daughter may be required to stay out of Macy's. In a way, she is fortunate that the City of Chesterfield has charged her with violating the city ordinances instead of referring the case to the St. Louis County Prosecutor's office where it would have been charged as a violation of the state statutes. It would definitely be best to hire an attorney to represent your daughter in the Chesterfield Municipal Court. Her attorney will first see what the evidence is against your daughter and determine whether the charge can be defended. If there is sufficient evidence to convict her, then the attorney should be able to work out a plea bargain under which your daughter would not receive a conviction on her record so long as she sucessfully completes a period of probation and performs whatever conditions of probation the prosecutor and the judge require. I have handled many simlar cases over the last thirty years and I have even handled some of them in this particular court. If you do not already have an attorney for your daughter, you should feel free to call me or have her call me for a free telephone consultation. You should also be wary of any attorneys who will be mailing your daughter uninvited solicitations. Some attorneys pay a private company to provide them an emailed list of people who are arrested each day so that the attorneys (or the advertising company) can send out form letters or postcards offering the attorney's services. This was completely unethical historically until our Supreme Court loosened up the rules so as to allow such "advertising". Although etical under the current rules, I personally believe that this practice contributes to the generally poor public image of attorneys. No matter how you decide to proceed, I wish your daughter the very best of luck.