If a person is found guilty, the court may imprison them for anywhere from 5 to 99 years. Being charged with a theft crime — regardless of whether it's a felony or misdemeanor — can be scary. If you've been accused of taking another's property in Dallas, reach out to Deandra Grant Law by calling or submitting an online contact form. We will work hard toward a favorable result on your behalf.
Moreover, prosecutors will often pool multiple thefts into one offense, elevating multiple misdemeanor-level offenses to a single felony-level offense. A good example of this type of theft charge is organized retail theft. As illustrated above, felony-level theft has significantly higher penalties.
Moreover, you are more likely to end up serving time behind bars, as community supervision programs are often not available for felony-level offenders. Also, as a convicted felon your personal freedoms will be restricted long after your sentence is complete. Combining charges will also affect plea bargaining — if you exhibit a pattern of repeated theft, prosecution is less likely to go easy on you.
Options such as pretrial diversion programs are also less likely. However, even when multiple theft charges are lumped together, each instance must be examined separately. For example, if the evidence for one theft offense is not sufficient, it may be possible to break up your charges, reducing your charge from a felony to a misdemeanor.
If you are facing a theft charge in Texas, how can you defend your criminal charges in a way that avoids jail time and ensures you maintain a clear criminal record? What if we are talking about a roommate situation or close friend situation where both parties routinely borrow items and return them? For example: boyfriend and girlfriend are living with each other until they have a disagreement and separate.
In fact, the girlfriend never communicated to the boyfriend about getting her laptop back. In this situation, there is no intent to permanently deprive. The prosecutor will have a very difficult time proving that a theft occurred. One of the main differences between a felony theft and a misdemeanor theft is the requirement of a felony theft case to be presented to a grand jury.
A grand jury is a constitutional requirement under Texas law for all felony charges. Texas law requires all felony cases to be presented to a grand jury. The primary purpose of the grand jury is to determine if there is probable cause for the felony crime to exist. If there is evidence that may show the felony charge can not be proven, the time for your criminal defense attorney to present that evidence is at a grand jury presentation.
Your criminal attorney can prepare an evidence packet of receipts, estimates, pictures and other supporting documentation and evidence to present to the grand jury. At the grand jury presentation, the grand jury will have the opportunity to review not only the evidence from the prosecutor, but also the refuting evidence your criminal defense lawyer has prepared on your behalf.
Our team of 5 former Prosecutors stands ready to provide you the best criminal defense possible to help protect your freedom and your clean criminal record. Over the course of his career, he has helped countless Texans protect their rights and get the best possible outcome in their criminal cases. Jeff Hampton may be able to get your charges reduced or dismissed, or he could win you an acquittal in a court of law.
The less time he has to study the facts of your case and develop a strong defense, though, the lower your chances are of that happening. Do not delay. Contact our office today for a free initial consultation and learn what options are available to you. All you have to do to get started is fill out our easy online case review form, call us at Hit enter to search or ESC to close.
No Comments. Felony Theft? Can It Be Dismissed? In addition to fines and possible imprisonment, a judge can order an offender to pay restitution to the victim for losses resulting from theft. Let's take a closer look at different theft offenses in the state of Texas. A state jail felony will bump up to a third-degree felony if the defendant used or exhibited a deadly weapon during the commission of the offense or had a previous felony conviction.
The penalty for a theft offense increases to the next offense level for example, a third-degree felony goes up to second-degree felony if any of the following are true:. Retail theft often called shoplifting falls under the general theft laws, with criminal penalties based on the value of goods stolen see above.
An offender can also receive enhanced penalties for preventing or attempting to prevent a retail theft detector from going off or using a device that deactivates a retail theft detector. Finally, a person may be charged with a class A misdemeanor if they make or distribute a device that is used to deactivate a retail theft detector. A person who commits theft including shoplifting may be civilly liable to the theft victim on top of facing criminal penalties.
Texas law allows for a criminal prosecution brought by a government prosecutor and a civil lawsuit brought by the victim.
The theft victim such as a store owner in a shoplifting case can file a lawsuit in civil court to recover :. When the offender is a child , the parent or legal guardian will be liable for the civil damages.
0コメント