Q: What happens with 7 shoplifting charges?
My grown daughter (age 28) was caught at the door of Walmart by their security and was arrested for theft by shoplifting. She was accused of swapping price tags and paying a reduced amount for the items. She is currently looking for an attorney. In the meantime, she found out that she is looking at 6 additional shoplifting charges after Walmart ran her card for swapping tags. She claims she is innocent of those charges, but what evidence would Walmart have to make those charges stick? Is video evidence at the checkout enough to charge her with that or do they have more video evidence of her actually swapping the tags? How clear are the cameras at Walmart? Is she looking at jail time? Will that be combined as 1 charge or will it be 7 different warrants and 7 different court hearings?
A: Without more information, it is difficult to say how this will play out. From an efficiency standpoint, my guess is that the state will charge her on one indictment/accusation and add additional values for any of the 6 charges that they can prove. Assuming that the total loss by Walmart exceeds $500, your daughter is looking at felony shoplifting which carries 1-10 years in prison. Because the value/loss is so important, I would encourage you/your daughter to seek counsel asap.
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