My wife had been caught shoplifting at Macy’s. She has a clean record and had never done criminal activity before. They called police and she was taken to LAPD station in Van Nuys and issued citation for 459.5 PC. She has been heartbroken over this and cried for 2 weeks. She said that she does not know why she did it and that she was very depressed about approaching coronavirus epidemic at that time. She also suffers from hyperthyroidism (which can have strong effect on mood swings) and both her and I are in high risk category for coronavirus due to underlying health conditions. She said that when it happened, she was out of her mind worrying (about coronavirus), and did not even realize what she was doing. She is regretting this tremendously and said that it was a lifelong lesson for her. I have the following questions:
(1) Without hiring a lawyer, is there any way to get any sort of plea deal which would not result in misdemeanor charge on her record?
She needs a lawyer if only at the very least to come up with a better story. The Penal Code section she was cited for isn't just plain old shoplifting - it is a form of burglary where they apparently think they have evidence to show that she entered the store with the intent to steal. I haven't read anywhere that is one of the side effects of fear of coronavirus.
If your freedom or your rights mean anything to you, you need a lawyer to assert them.
While everyone has the right to act as his or her own attorney, it is a mistake even for a lawyer to do so. For lay persons, it is worse because you may agree to a prosecutor's offer that sounds good, but that a criminal law defense attorney would see is not in your best legal interests. Acting for yourself, you may also unknowingly say things that implicate your culpability, thereby waiving your right to not incriminate yourself. A courtroom is not a place to look for a low cost, do-it-yourself solution.
Like the other attorneys have pointed out, she will probably qualify for the public defender so utilize their services. No reason to go this alone.
As someone has already noted, your wife should not try to proceed without an attorney. There are income-based restrictions on who can utilize the services of a public defender, but often, these restrictions are ignored by the court--i.e., anyone who asks is appointed a public defender at little or no cost. Whatever the case in your area, you should seek some sort of representation for your wife.
If your wife has no criminal history and the value of the relevant taken was low, a skilled and experienced attorney MAY be able to find negotiate a deal that leaves her with no record of conviction. Alternatively, a good attorney may find a complete defense to her case, ultimately obtaining a dismissal or not guilty verdict. Whether these are realistic possibilities depends on the specifics of your wife's past and/or the circumstances of the charged offense. But in any event, you need an attorney--private or publicly appointed--to help ensure the best possible outcome.
She can ask the Public Defender to help her. Either way, she should have a lawyer.
