How Do You Beat a Theft Charge?

Transcript:

I'm gonna be talking about three common areas of defense in a theft case. You should consider these areas as you are preparing your defense, and the place to start is with the definition of theft, which is when someone knowingly or intentionally exerts unauthorized control over property of another with an intent to deprive the person of its value.

Challenge Intent

So the first area involves intent or challenging the intent. Was the property taken knowingly, or was there some other mistake? And did you intend to permanently deprive the owner of the property? An example of a defense in this area would be that you simply wanted to borrow the item. Another example is permissive use. For instance, maybe you legally came into control of the property by borrowing it from a friend. This permissive use could be a defense if you're later charged with stealing that property. And even third, maybe you are in possession of the item that was stolen, but you didn't in fact know it was actually stolen. So if you've been charged with theft, look at the facts of your case and see if the intent elements are satisfied.

Review Circumstnaces

The second area involves reviewing the actions and circumstances surrounding the theft. Here, the facts surrounding the theft may not add up. For instance, you may have been checking out an item from a store's self-checkout. But for some reason you didn't scan a $10 item, you walk out and you find yourself in front of the store security and they charge you with theft. But let's say you intended to buy the item, and there was an issue with the scanner, or you just messed up, and you actually bought $50 worth of items at the store and even had another $50 on you. It's not reasonable for a jury to think that you intended to steal that item. And if we can convince the state that, it can help in plea negotiations or help to get the charges dismissed.

Another example could be that you had an item from the store on you when you walked out of the store, but you were leaving the store to go buy items from the store that are kept outside, like plants. Here, the circumstances surrounding the theft could provide a defense to the theft charge.

Challenge Evidence

The third area of theft defense involves challenging the evidence. There could be evidentiary issues with the state's case. For instance, they may not be able to find the witnesses against you because maybe the security person or store clerk who witnessed the theft changed jobs, or maybe the state has video and photo evidence, and they're unable to provide the proper foundation for the evidence, you just can't come into court and play a video. It doesn't come in automatically. The state needs to lay the proper foundation, and that usually takes a witness to come in and do that.

A third way to challenge evidence could be through suppression. Maybe you made some admission and provided incriminating statements. You will wanna be sure you were advised of your rights and the proper procedures were followed when the evidence was obtained against you. If proper procedures weren't followed, you may be able to get the evidence suppressed, so it can't be used against you.

So here are three areas you should review if you've been charged with theft. My name is Nathan Vining, I'm an attorney in Indianapolis. I represent people in criminal defense cases throughout the state of Indiana. And if you have questions, feel free to call me or text me at the number that follows.