Innocent, not according to the tape

[Ladisunshyne101]

I was working at a department store for 5 days, and because i had experience they only trained me on their registers for one day. I was never given a hand book either. Okay, on the 4th day 2 women and a child came in the store and filled up 4 shopping carts full of clothes and purses. They came through my line to check out, throughout the whole process, one of the women held a conversation the whole time. She asked me how long i was working there, she asked me if i liked working there, she said she could get me a better job at bestbuy working as a manager, because she was a hiring manager. The whole while i was SCANNING and taking off SECURITY TAGS. She mentioned they were in a rush, so i began to speed up my pace a little. I had to take the hangers off the clothes, then scan the item, remove the security tags, fold and bag the item. So she asked if she could help me by bagging. I was never told this was not possible, so i handed her some bags. I was sure i scanned everything. She said she was paying witha check, everything rang up to $2024.00. She wrote out a check, i checked her id writing out all her info. She said my bank is going to ask for a code to authorize the check. I said ok and ran the check thru. Sure enough it asked for an authorizaton cade, she gave me the code 9091 it went through and i gave her the receipt, and that wa that. The next day i was arrested...

I was told i failed to call for assistance when the computer asked for an authorization code. I was also told that i failed to scan a few of her items, and that they had me on tape. I didn't believe it, so they showed me the tape, and i had forgotten to scan some of her items. According to the store $900 worth. Even though i didn't intentionally help that woman steal, they can't find her and need someone to pin it on. My lawyer who after seeing the tape has a hard time believing my innocence, has told me that the tape is proof that i know these people (which i don't) and that i helped them steal.

I plead Overwhelmed.
My next court date is in october and i'm looking at a felony charge, but IM INNOCENT.

I unknowingly allowed her to follow through with her intentions, however, I did not purposely assist her.

After several Pre-trials the case is now going to be tried with a jury....

ANY ADVICE?

 

[calalily]

I am so sorry for your troubles! I hope your lawyer will actually be on your side as he doesn't believe you. Does he appear to want to do his best? Has he told you his "strategy" at all for the court appearance? Do you have any business character wittnesses (not friends but old bosses/supervisors)? The fact you were only there five days and not given a handbook for procedures may help you and I hope the lawyer really emphasises this at trial. Good luck to you.....

 

[mafioso]

It is important for any lawyer to honestly asses the weakness of your case. But he has forget his personal impression and believe you are innocent. Even with good character withnesses(former managers or LP personel) at past shops, it all depends on how you missed the items you did not scan. If you mistakenly pushed a bunch of machandise to the side and did not scan the group of items, that would be believable. But if you selectively scan one item and did not scan the next, and alternated several times that does not look good to a jury. It will suggest to them you did not scan expensive items delibrately.It might seem like you knew exactly what you were doing. Coversations with clients can't get you in trouble........it is normal.You must be ready to answer why you accepted an autorization code from a customer.That could make or break your case too, given you say you had experience and did not need much training.The sad thing is innocence is not depending on the truth but on what can be proven in court. Goodluck