Caroline County Theft Lawyer
A criminal lawyer plays an important role when working with someone charged with theft. They protect an individual’s freedom, their record, and their interests regarding the case. If you have been charged with theft, it is important to contact a Caroline County theft attorney right away. An experienced criminal attorney can build your defense as soon as possible.
Penalties
Even a low-level theft, any theft under $500 is a Class 1 Misdemeanor. The theft of something worth one cent, a piece of gum, or candy qualifies as a Class 1 misdemeanor. That means when someone is convicted of that particular crime, the penalties they face are jail time and thousands of dollars in fines. That does not include restitution that may need to be paid to the victim. An individual may have a marred criminal history, especially if they do not have any kind of record. They will go from a person not having a record to now having a crime of moral turpitude on their criminal history. Types of theft include:
With that particular type of crime, if a person has a job that runs background checks regularly, they could lose that job. If they are working on getting future employment, that crime can appear as a conviction on a background check or a background search of their history. That could result in someone not getting a particular job. Finally, if a person has a job with some kind of security clearance or they anticipate needing some type of security clearance, a larceny charge can prohibit that.
Building a Defense
Since every theft case is different, a lawyer will have numerous questions for a person to answer to assist in examining the person’s case and the particular facts.
A Caroline County theft lawyer is going to need the following information to help build a productive case:
- What was allegedly stolen
- Where items were taken from
- Was it stolen from a person or home
- When did this occur
- Nature of the allegation
Role of a Theft Lawyer
The first thing a Caroline County theft lawyer does is determine how to keep someone out of jail. They identify what can be done to protect that person’s freedom. That can be anything from some form of a plea deal to taking the matter to a jury trial.
The most important thing is what can be done keep someone out of jail. When the attorney decides on the best course of action to keep someone out of jail, the next thing to accomplish is protecting the person’s records. That could be a trial or some form of a favorable plea. The attorney determines the best course of actions to protect an individual’s criminal history and keep it as clean as possible.
The criminal attorney also protects their client’s interests. That may be their job or, in certain cases when children are involved, the attorney works to protect their client’s family interests. Once the attorney is sure that their client is not going to jail and their record is not going to be marred, they determine what other personal interests must be protected going forward in the representation.
Contact a Caroline County Theft Lawyer
Once an individual finds out that they are getting a theft charge, they should immediately contact a Caroline County theft lawyer. The lawyer can help them understand what they need to do, where they need to go, and what they should and should not say when dealing with a theft charge. Many times, people do not contact a lawyer until it is too late. In certain situations that charge is included. A person can go through all of that without contacting a lawyer, make some very drastic errors, and end up in a worse situation than when they began. Call us now.