Legal Question in Criminal Law in Kansas

While shopping at a hy-vee store, my daughter was running late and lost track of time and the fact she had several grocery items in her grocery bag. She began to exit the store, and when she walked out the door, she realized that she had forgotten to go through the cashier line to pay for the items. She began to turn around to go back into the store, but was met by the store manager and asking if she had any items in her bag. My daugher indicated that she did and was going back into the store to pay for them, and that she just forgot, but the manager did not want to hear anything. The store manager immediately called the police and was charged. What is the best approach to handle this accident?


Asked on 12/18/10, 10:41 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Adam Mack Mack & Associates, LLC

The best advice I can give your daughter is to find and retain an attorney to represent her as soon as possible. She is facing criminal charges and these charges will follow her the rest of her life if she is convicted. Assuming everything you said is true that would be particularly unfortunate in this situation. Furthermore, in your and your daughter's mind you may see this as a misunderstanding that simply needs to be sorted out. However, police and prosecutors are told stories like yours everyday and often by people who are not being honest.

Please understand that I am not saying that you or your daughter are being dishonest in your explanation of what happened, I just want you to know that once your daughter was charged with shoplifting the prosecutor may be more interested in finding ways to use your daughter's account of what happened against her rather than help her straighten out the misunderstanding. Always keep in mind that the prosecutor's job is to look to see if there is enough evidence to convict your daughter, and if he or she thinks there is sufficient evidence then the goal becomes convicting your daughter for whatever crime the prosecutor can prove.

However, if you have a good attorney then he or she will help you communicate with the prosecutor or police in a way that will give you the best chance of getting this sorted out while not unnecessarily providing the prosecutor with the ammunition needed to convict your daughter.

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Answered on 12/23/10, 10:51 pm


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