Case Type: Felony Burglary/Grand Theft
Jurisdiction: Canyon County
Result: The Defendant plead guilty to Misdemeanor Petty Theft

This is a great result which allowed the client to proceed through life without a felony record but also provided the community with an appropriate punishment.

This was essentially a shoplifting case. The client, a mother of 3 in her 40s, with no prior criminal history. Candidly, she was about the least likely person anyone would expect to be charged with a felony offense. Unfortunately, she was going through a tough mental period and made some bad choices that were completely out of character for her. She was having feelings that we all experience - she was tired of barely making ends meet and purchasing items for everyone but herself. Right or wrong, she wanted something just for her but did not have the money. She stole a couple of jewellery items from a big box store. Nothing she took was terribly expensive, a few hundred dollars in all. As soon as she was approached by security she immediately broke down in tears and admitted to everything she had done. She even went so far to admit that she had taken a couple items a week earlier and was not caught. Everything was returned to the store.

As happens in many of these cases, the State charged the client with Felony Burglary because she admitted that she had the intent to take items when she entered the store that day. She spent a night in the Canyon County jail as a result of her arrest and was facing over a decade in potential prison time. For the first month or so I worked on the case, I don't think I had a single conversation with her that did not result in her crying out of fear and shame. After a long battle with the prosecutor's office, we were finally able to convince them that the client deserved a second chance and leniency in this matter. The felony charges were amended to misdemeanors and she entered a plea of guilty.

This was a just and reasonable result. While not every case ends in such a manner, we fight hard to achieve the best result possible for every client. I am proud to have worked on this case.