Lisa Pelosi: No. Because people make mistakes and once a mistake is made, you can’t turn back the clock but what you can do is get a good attorney to try to advocate for you to keep your record clean and try to be creative with the prosecutor to get you involved in certain programs or a restitution or community service so that even though you are caught red-handed, so to speak, we get some mercy from the court and from the prosecutor’s office so you cannot have it affect your work history and your life in the future. So, you shouldn’t throw your stuff on the mercy of the court and admit your doubts, you should work with a good lawyer to try to mitigate the damage as much as possible.
The Methodologies Employed by the Prosecution To Deal With a Theft Charge
Interviewer: What sort of insight could you give the reader as far as how the prosecution will handle a theft charge? What sort of tactics will they utilize and will they always go for the maximum penalty?
Lisa Pelosi: They don’t always go for the maximum penalty but something that they will look at is if someone stealing a loaf of bread and a carton of milk because they’re out of work and they need to feed their children versus someone who is going with suppliers to cut tax of $2,000 handbags. So, even though people are charged with theft, I think prosecutors do have a open mind when people are trying to steal something because of need or sad situation albeit not something that I would recommend anybody do but I think prosecutors will look at the total of the facts and I think that’s what an attorney’s job is to do, a defense attorney’s job, to put those facts forward to the prosecutor to try to help your client end up with a resolution that’s not going to hurt them in the future.
There Is No Statute of Expungement for Theft Offenses in New York
Interviewer: When someone has a conviction or just a charge or an arrest, are there ways that it could be removed from the record or expunged or anything like that?
Lisa Pelosi: Expungement is particular to a state. For example, in New York State, we don’t have expungement. So, if someone doesn’t get a good attorney and work to try to get the record cleared or have the situation where it’s dismissed, you know, 10 years from now, 15 years from now, 5 years from now, they’re still going to have this petty larceny or shoplifting conviction on their record. That’s why it’s super important for people to try to have the case dismissed or get a violation when they are arrested especially in New York State, for example, because we don’t have in New York whereas some states, such as New Jersey, I believe, will allow expungement of a record for certain non-violent crimes after certain period of time.
Diversionary Programs Available to Theft Offenders in the State of New York
Interviewer: Are there any special programs like diversionary programs or classes that someone may have to take?
Lisa Pelosi: Yes. There are programs that are out there with the intention of helping people understand what mistake they have made to understand about shoplifting and how the consequences to shoplifting actually have hit the economy and prices in stores and how a life of shoplifting, for example, can harm someone because you might get a dismissal the first time or violation but as you progress with the arrest in that department, eventually you’ll go to jail. There are definitely diversion programs and also community service is something that courts appreciate giving someone a chance at their mistake or the charges that are against them if they do some community servicing back to the community with the intention that we can get their case sealed or get them a violation. So, the diversion programs are something that I think the courts and the prosecutors all just like to use in certain cases.
