If my daughter was caught shoplifting, can her record be sealed?
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If my daughter was caught shoplifting, can her record be sealed?
Can records be sealed. If so, how do we go about it? This was 2 years ago and she performed her community service and paid the store back.
Asked on January 19, 2012 under Criminal Law, New Jersey
Answers:
FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
Unless your daughter was a minor at the time she was caught shoplifting, her criminal file cannot be sealed by the court. The question is whether or not she was convicted of the shoplifting offense? Sometimes for a first time offense the court may order restitution to the store where the items were stolen from and community service work and if there is compliance, the charges may be dismissed.
This might have happened for your daughter. If she was a minor at the time of the offense, her court file is automatically sealed under state law.
If she was not a minor and was convicted of shoplifting, she should consult with a criminal defense attorney about getting the conviction expunged. If expunged, for all intents and purposes she would have no criminal conviction but there would be a criminal file open to public review concerning the shoplifting incident.
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