is it shoplifting if the merchandise is still in your purse but you havent left the store yet
Get Legal Help Today
Compare Quotes From Top Companies and Save
Secured with SHA-256 Encryption
is it shoplifting if the merchandise is still in your purse but you havent left the store yet
Asked on May 4, 2009 under Criminal Law, West Virginia
Answers:
E.H., Member, Calfiornia Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 15 years ago | Contributor
According to the WV Code §61-3A-1(a) A person commits the offense of shoplifting if, with intent to appropriate merchandise without paying the merchant's stated price for the merchandise, such person, alone or in concert with another person, knowingly:
(1) Conceals the merchandise upon his or her person or in another manner; or
(2) Removes or causes the removal of merchandise from the mercantile establishment or beyond the last station for payment; or
(3) Alters, transfers or removes any price marking affixed to the merchandise; or
(4) Transfers the merchandise from one container to another; or
(5) Causes the cash register or other sales recording device to reflect less than the merchant's stated price for the merchandise; or
(6) Removes a shopping cart from the premises of the mercantile establishment; or
(7) Repudiates a card-not-present credit or debit transaction after having taken delivery of merchandise ordered from the merchant and does not return the merchandise or attempt to make other arrangements with the vendor.
(b) A person also commits the offense of shoplifting if such person, alone or in concert with another person, knowingly and with intent obtains an exchange or refund or attempts to obtain an exchange or refund for merchandise which has not been purchased from the mercantile establishment.
http://www.legis.state.wv.us/WVCODE/Code.cfm?chap=61&art=3A
If you need to consult with a criminal attorney, you can click on the link below:
http://attorneypages.com/524WV/index.htm
LAR, Member CA State Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 15 years ago | Contributor
Technically, yes. If you took an item knowing that it does not belong to you and intended not to pay for it, then you have committed the offense. The crime is complete once you have formed the intent to take something that does not belong to you and intend to make it your own without paying the owner for it. Not leaving the store is irrelevant to a determination of whether you have committed the underlying offense. It is your conduct that implicates you, not where you ultimately take the item.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Answer(s) provided above are for general information only. The attorney providing the answer was not serving as the attorney for the person submitting the question or in any attorney-client relationship with such person. Laws may vary from state to state, and sometimes change. Tiny variations in the facts, or a fact not set forth in a question, often can change a legal outcome or an attorney's conclusion. Although AttorneyPages.com has verified the attorney was admitted to practice law in at least one jurisdiction, he or she may not be authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction referred to in the question, nor is he or she necessarily experienced in the area of the law involved. Unlike the information in the Answer(s) above, upon which you should NOT rely, for personal advice you can rely upon we suggest you retain an attorney to represent you.