Five Ways to Stay Out of Trouble in 2018

Five ways to stay out of trouble in the New Year:

Happy New Year!! I hope you have a prosperous, peaceful one. It is no one’s goal to get arrested and charged with a criminal offense in ANY year, and to that effect I am going to give you five ways you can avoid an arrest this year:

1. Do not drive with marijuana in your car:

I do not suggest being a heavy user of marijuana. It is not the best path to prosperity and productivity. However, if you are going to use marijuana in any quantity, keep it at your home, locked away safely. Driving with it is a very bad idea because the scent of marijuana gives a police officer probable cause to search your car and/or prolong the detention long enough to call a K9 to do a sniff-search. If the marijuana is found, you will be charged with possession of marijuana. If you must drive with it, limit the times you do this and only do it when it cannot be avoided. When you drive with it, keep it an air tight container out of view, or even invest in a portable vacuum sealer to seal it up before driving. NEVER SMOKE MARIJUANA IN YOUR CAR.

2. Always have a safe ride home after drinking:

If you are going to drink alcohol away from your home, always, always arrange for a sober (completely sober – not just “not that drunk”) ride home. Take a cab, have a designated driver, take a ride share, or take a means of public transportation. Arrests for DWI are increasing nationwide, and even if you are not truly intoxicated and have only consumed a limited amount of alcohol, it is an arduous undertaking to beat a DWI. It is also expensive.

3. Do not gamble at shoplifting:

You may not get caught every single time if you are a habitual shoplifter. But you will get caught eventually. Shoplifting charges are embarrassing, a pain to dispose of, and will disqualify you from many, many jobs.

4. Do not drink to the point of oblivion in public:

Public intoxication arrests are common. If you get very intoxicated and start causing a scene around a police officer, or if you are intoxicated and cannot seem to find your way home, you will probably get arrested for public intox. APD uses these as a “end the situation” type of arrest – if they don’t know what else to do with you but they have to figure out something because you can’t stay out on the street due to your intoxication – they will take you to jail for Public Intoxication.

5. Do not stay in toxic relationships:

If you are in a toxic, dangerous relationship – GET OUT. Do it as soon as you can safely. Yelling, verbal abuse and emotional abuse will lead to physical abuse and this will lead to intervention by the system. Even if you call the police because you are the one being abused, it is not always the case that the police arrest the right person. Sometimes they mistake defensive injuries as the primary injuries and arrest the person that was the actual victim. If you need resources, call the Domestic Violence Hotline.

I hope that all my clients, my potential clients, and their friends and family can have a peaceful year this year and stay out of the system. It is so time and resource consuming to get arrested over and over again, so be smart and employ these strategies above so you can stay free this year.

Happy New Year from Stefanie Collins Attorney at Law.

Happy New Year: Five Ways to Stay Safe and Free in 2017

Five ways to stay out of trouble in the New Year:

Happy New Year!! I hope you have a prosperous, peaceful one.  It is no one’s goal to get arrested and charged with a criminal offense in ANY year, and to that effect I am going to give you five ways you can avoid an arrest this year: 

1.        Do not drive with marijuana in your car:

I do not suggest being a heavy user of marijuana.  It is not the best path to prosperity and productivity.  However, if you are going to use marijuana in any quantity, keep it at your home, locked away safely.  Driving with it is a very bad idea because the scent of marijuana gives a police officer probable cause to search your car and/or prolong the detention long enough to call a K9 to do a sniff-search.  If the marijuana is found, you will be charged with possession of marijuana.  If you must drive with it, limit the times you do this and only do it when it cannot be avoided.  When you drive with it, keep it an air tight container out of view, or even invest in a portable vacuum sealer to seal it up before driving.  NEVER SMOKE MARIJUANA IN YOUR CAR.

2.       Always have a safe ride home after drinking:

If you are going to drink alcohol away from your home, always, always arrange for a sober (completely sober – not just “not that drunk”) ride home.  Take a cab, have a designated driver, take a ride share, or take a means of public transportation.  Arrests for DWI are increasing nationwide, and even if you are not truly intoxicated and have only consumed a limited amount of alcohol, it is an arduous undertaking to beat a DWI.  It is also expensive.

3.       Do not gamble at shoplifting:

You may not get caught every single time if you are a habitual shoplifter.  But you will get caught eventually.  Shoplifting charges are embarrassing, a pain to dispose of, and will disqualify you from many, many jobs.

4.       Do not drink to the point of oblivion in public:

Public intoxication arrests are common.  If you get very intoxicated and start causing a scene around a police officer, or if you are intoxicated and cannot seem to find your way home, you will probably get arrested for public intox.  APD uses these as a “end the situation” type of arrest – if they don’t know what else to do with you but they have to figure out something because you can’t stay out on the street due to your intoxication – they will take you to jail for Public Intoxication.

5.       Do not stay in toxic relationships:

If you are in a toxic, dangerous relationship – GET OUT.  Do it as soon as you can safely.  Yelling, verbal abuse and emotional abuse will lead to physical abuse and this will lead to intervention by the system.  Even if you call the police because you are the one being abused, it is not always the case that the police arrest the right person.  Sometimes they mistake defensive injuries as the primary injuries and arrest the person that was the actual victim.  If you need resources, call the Domestic Violence Hotline.

I hope that all my clients, my potential clients, and their friends and family can have a peaceful year this year and stay out of the system.  It is so time and resource consuming to get arrested over and over again, so be smart and employ these strategies above so you can stay free this year.

Happy New Year from Stefanie Collins Attorney at Law.

Theft of Property: the truth on shoplifting

Theft of Property (ie “Shoplifiting”):  Some Issues to Keep in Mind

I defend many, many people accused of theft of property, what we casually call “shoplifting”.

I see some common themes in these cases that I will try to address here.

You are really gambling when you attempt to shoplift out of a big store.  Walmart, Target, HEB, and department stores all take loss prevention very seriously and spend a great deal of money on technology and staff to try to stop shoplifting.  They may not get you every single time but they might and if you make a habit out of it you will get caught. 

There are security cameras all over the big stores.  They may be being monitored from somewhere else in the store.  There are people in the aisles in plain clothes that work for the stores that are watching people.  Unfortunately, if you are a person of color they are probably watching you with more suspicion.  It is not fair, but you need to be aware of it. 

If they see you conceal items, they aren’t going to stop you at first.  You may get some confidence and feel like no one knows.  However, the reason they aren’t doing anything to you is because it is not illegal to conceal items in the store.  You haven’t broken the law yet so there’s no reason for them to stop you or get your attention.  It is not illegal until you walk past “all points of sale” and attempt to leave with the concealed items.  That’s when you’ve broken the law and if they know you have items that you have not payed for, loss prevention officers will make an attempt to detain you.

Yes, it is legal for them to detain you.  They can detain you to prevent the theft of items even if they aren’t peace officers.  Any private citizen can use force in Texas to stop a theft of property. They can use force to detain you.  Do not fight them.  Do not use force to try to get past them.  If you do, you can be charged with assault, or worse, robbery.  It’s not worth it.

They will detain you until the police arrive.  All the big chains always pursue charges against you for theft.  Some of the little ones may let you go if they recover the property but they don’t have to do so.  And yes, even if they get the property back you can still be charged with theft if you attempted to leave the store with the items. 

If the items are under $100 when they ring them up at the register, they will charge you with a Class C misdemeanor theft, write you a ticket with a court date – that you should not blow off – and let you go.  If it’s above $100 but below $500, it’s a Class B misdemeanor.  The police have the option of arresting you and taking you to jail, but the officer may also write you a Class B cite and release.  This is not a Class C ticket.  This is a citation to return to court to bond out on a personal bond on a Class B misdemeanor with a court date in County Court.  Do not blow this off or you will also be charged with a Class A misdemeanor of Failure to Appear/Bail Jumping.  If you get charged with both the theft and the FTA, when you get arrested you will have to bond out on both and it complicates the entire process and costs you more money. 

Shoplifting is a bad idea.  This is a crime of poverty but it’s not usual to see people stealing food and necessary items.  Sunglasses seem to be a very commonly shoplifted item, along with makeup, underwear, and other small items.  DVDs and small electronics are also common and can run in value up to a resulting Class A misdemeanor or state jail felony charge.

Be very careful:  a theft, even in the Class B range, with three or more convictions prior to the date of arrest can result in you being indicted on a state jail felony theft.  The punishment range on a state jail felony is six months up to two years in the state jail.

Call me today if you are charged with theft of property.