Elements of the Crime of Theft
For a crime to be proved successful in the court of law there are certain things that must be proven as facts. these things can be referred to as elements or ingredients of the crime in question, theft has elements that must be proved in court by the prosecutor of the case we are going to discuss them below:
You used Fraud or pretenses to deprive an owner of his goods or property.
You had the intention to take the goods or property.
The goods or property did not belong to you.
You did not have permission to take the property, whether actual or implied.
You physically took the property and left with it or you had taken substantial steps that it could safely be presumed that you wanted to leave with the property.
Your faculties were intact when you did all of this or your faculties ought to have been intact if you had not taken substances or done acts that would restrict your thinking faculties.
Some Examples of Theft
You went into a person’s house saw a very fine item, you took that item and hid it in your bag then went ahead to walk out of the house with it.
You entered into someone’s backyard, walked around and saw his grill that you liked, you removed the grill from the backyard, painted it another color and continued using it without intention to return it to the owner
You entered a store, picked things that you found attractive wrapped them in a bag and snuck out of the store with them
Some Possible Punishments for the Offence of Shoplifting
The crime of Theft carries serious punishments and penalties, they vary in degree depending on the circumstances that surround the particular case, these circumstances might be the value of the property, if you are a first-time offender or not. the penalties include:
Imprisonment which can be with hard labor or without hard labor. This imprisonment can be up to ten years.
You can be punished with both fine and jail time if you are found guilty.
If you are convicted of theft you can be ordered to pay up to three thousand dollars.
The owner of the property that you stole can sue you and that can cost you money.
Possible Legal Defenses for Shoplifting
A case cannot come to conclusion until the defendant has presented his defense, the availability of defenses and defense attorneys like those at Barkemeyer Law firm is absolutely necessary for the criminal justice system to work, so if you are accused of shoplifting in Gretna, Kenner or Metairie contact us and we can help you in various ways.
Some of the legal defenses available for shoplifting are:
False accusation: you can make a defense that you did not commit theft and you have been accused falsely.
You lacked the mental capacity to form the intent to commit theft therefore the element of intent is missing.
You are the true owner of the property you are accused of stealing but for some reason the “supposed victim” was in possession of it.
In order for you to better understand what theft means and the need for a defense attorney as soon as possible, we are going to further discuss some of the aspects of theft further. We are going to discuss the following:
What is the Meaning of Theft
Theft is a crime that has been around since the time of antiquity. To commit theft means that you take property that belongs to someone (also a merchant since theft includes shoplifting) and you intend that you would hold on to that property or dispose of it, but you do not have the authority to do this, You know that the owner will be deprived of the use of their property because of your actions and you have no legal right to the use or possession or ownership of the property.
Theft can be referred to by other names like “shoplifting” “misappropriation of goods and so on”. It is presumed by law that you know that this is a crime and punishable under the Law.
Possible Penalties of theft
If you are found guilty of theft there are a range of punishments you might suffer which includes:
you are going to be imprisoned: the years of imprisonment can extend to up to ten years with hard labor.
You can be ordered to pay fine of up to $3,000 (three thousand dollars) even though you have been sentenced to prison.
You can be fined and imprisoned.
After you have served your sentence the criminal record can be part of your records and substantially reduced your standard of living and opportunities in life.
These penalties can seem small at first glance but they have the capacity to wreck your life and derail the progression of things in your life.
Theft Defense Attorney
From what we have already discussed it is apparent that theft is a serious crime and you can be caught in the web of a theft case whether you committed the crime or not, this is part of the reasons it is important to obtain the services of an attorney at Barkemeyer Law firm we can help you so contact us.
