If I was forced back inside a store regarding an alleged shoplifting incident, is this a violation my rights?
Question Details:
My friend was caught shoplifting meat from a grocery store, while I was with him. I didn't know what he was doing. We were stopped outside the door. My friend fled, they then wanted me to be held and questioned. I walked to my car, just wanting to leave because I didn't understand the situation. I went to open my door, they pried and forced my hand off my car door and keys and forced me inside to a small room with a manager guarding until the police arrived. The police gave me a ticket to appear in court. I cannot afford an attorney. What should I do?
Criminal Defense Law Answers
Given the circumstances that you have written about, it appears that you were in the wrong place at the right time where you most likely have been cited as an accessory to a crime, namely shoplifitng.
The circumstances that you have written about suggests that what happened to you was proper in that a citizen's arrest was made with respect to you due to the shoplifting of meat from the store by your friend. You have a court hearing coming up as a result of the citation to appear in court.
In the interim, I would go down to your county's public defender's office to see if you qualify for a public defender since you cannot afford an attorney.
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