What can I do if I was wrongfully accused of theft?
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What can I do if I was wrongfully accused of theft?
My husband was wrongfully accused of theft at a local store. We were in the self check out and they’re machine was acting up, well we payed for our items and was walking towards the door when a LP stopped us and asked for us to come in a little room because we
Asked on May 10, 2017 under Criminal Law, Texas
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 7 years ago | Contributor
Get the records from the self-check-out machine--you should be able to subpoena them, since there is a case against you. Also get any security tapes of the check-out area for that time: that may show you at the self-check machine. (Get a lawyer to help you if you are not comfortabled doing this yourselves.) If the records show you paid, there is no theft. Similarly, if you paid by credit or debit card, your own bank or credit card statements should show payment, and payment equals no theft. And if you received a receipt from the machine, that should be strong evidence of no theft, too.
If you can't prove that you paid for these items, then speak to the prosecutor: explain that you thought you had paid, but evidently the payment did not go through; tell the prosecutor that since you were and are willing to pay, if the payment did not go through, you are more than willing to pay now--that you were not stealing, but were the victime of a computer/machine/etc. glitch. It may be that in exchange for payment, they will be willing to drop the charges.
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