Can I be charged with petty theft if I had no idea it was happening?
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Can I be charged with petty theft if I had no idea it was happening?
I went into a store with my boyfriend and his mother. She gave us items to carry out to the car. I figured she paid, so I took them but she hadn’t paid.
Asked on June 7, 2017 under Criminal Law, Virginia
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 6 years ago | Contributor
You can be charged if there are reasonable grounds (e.g. more likely than not) to think that you were intentionally involved--e.g. helping your boyfriend's mother steal. The fact that you were carrying the stolen items and the evident thief was your boyfriend's mother (someone you might reasonably collaborate with) would provide such grounds.
To ultimately convict you, they'd have to prove your involvement by "beyond a reasonable doubt," which is much higher standard. So long as your boyfriend and his mother do not implicate you, the authorities should not be able to do that; and indeed, if they admit right away you were not involved, even if you were charged, the charges would likely be dismissed. Where you could get into trouble would be if your boyfriend and mother are charged and look to blame you; if they both say you were the thief (which is plausible since you were carrying the goods), their testimony could be enough to convict you.
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