Legal Question in Criminal Law in Tennessee

Good news for him: If he is a true young dumb first offender, he should qualify for Post-trial/Judicial Diversion, go on probation, pay back the money, and later have the charges dismissed and expunged from his record. That is a once in a lifetime offer opportunity for a Tennessee offender.

If you know who the perpetrator is and DON'T report it, you run into several problems:

- Your credit card company may not re-credit your account, leaving YOU responsible for his theft.

- Your credit card company may re-credit your account, then discover you knew all along it was him, and then charge YOU with felony

theft as a co-conspirator. After all, the store clerk -- if asked by investigators -- will report that you have already viewed the video.

If you want the best outcome for your boyfriend, better tell him you know it was him before the store clerk does. The credit card issuer isn't

going to roll over and forget a $1,000 loss, and if you were able to easily identify him so will the police.

My suggestion: Call him: "I saw what you did, and you have two hours to call the police and do the right thing or I will call the police and do the right thing. If you call, you get the benefit of turning yourself in, probably getting little or no bail bond, and a good head start toward diversion. IF I turn you in you will be arrested and booked like any other criminal (which you would then show yourself to be to me and the public).