What to do right now

If you are being held by store security, or you were released a few hours ago with a piece of paper telling you to come to court, the most important thing is also the simplest. Stop explaining. Nothing you say in the store improves your position, and quite a lot of it can make things worse.

In the store

Loss prevention staff are trained to get an admission before the police arrive. They may tell you that admitting it will keep the police out of it, that they already have you on video, or that signing a form now ends the matter. None of those things are promises they can keep. The store does not decide whether you are charged, and the paper they put in front of you tends to be used later.

• Do not physically resist or try to leave. That can turn one charge into two.
• Do not answer questions about what happened, even to be polite.
• Do not sign a statement, a confession, or a civil demand acknowledgment.
• Do not assume that offering to pay for the item ends it. It does not.
• Do say, calmly, that you would like to remain silent and speak to a lawyer.
• Do keep every piece of paper you are handed.

If you were released with an appearance ticket

Most petit larceny arrests in Orange County end with a Desk Appearance Ticket rather than a night in custody. That is a genuine relief, and it is also widely misread. A ticket is not a lesser charge and it is not a fine you can pay. It is the same criminal charge with a later court date.

1. Photograph both sides of the ticket now, before it gets lost.
2. Read the court name on it. Cases from Route 211 can land in either Middletown City Court or the Town of Wallkill Justice Court depending on which side of the municipal line the store sits.
3. Put the date in your phone twice. Missing it can produce a warrant.
4. Do not contact the store, and do not respond to loss prevention.
5. Call a lawyer well before the date rather than the morning of it.

If your court date is in the next 48 hours

Call now rather than reading further. There is usually still time to appear with counsel instead of alone, and the single most consequential thing that can happen at a first appearance is pleading to something before anyone has looked at the file.

If the police have asked to speak with you

You are not required to give a statement and you are allowed to say so politely. A conversation you intend as clearing things up is still evidence. If someone has reached out to arrange an interview, that is the moment to call a lawyer, not after.

What happens to the case after that

Almost none of this is decided at the first appearance. Retail theft cases are worked out in the conference stage, where the value assigned to the merchandise, the quality of the surveillance, whether the goods were recovered, how the stop was conducted and your record all get argued. For a first offense, resolutions that end without a conviction are a realistic subject of discussion rather than a long shot.

If you want to see the whole sequence laid out, the case timeline on the home page walks through it stage by stage. If you would rather just ask, the phone is answered at any hour, including tonight.

The information on this page is general information about New York law. It is not legal advice about your case. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Every case turns on its own facts.