criminal background dilemma

[koldboi]

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VENTING:

first off im a P1 right now and new to the forum. my friend and i went to the mall to return some stuff that we purchased earlier in the week. we went into the store to only find out that i left the receipt at home. so we walk around the mall shopping and security stops us to check the bag. i was like sure. they asked us if we had a receipt because they saw us on camera shoplifting. i was like you gotta be kidding me. i asked if i could see the camera and they said no. the guy then calls a sheriff over and writes my friend and i a summons for theft and possession of stolen things which are 2 charges. he was all nice about it saying if i sign it we were not guilty and we would have to go to court. he was all nice and told us not to worry.............................. i controlled myself and tried not to say anything. i went to court and plead not guilty at the arraingment. then i went to trial and the case was dismissed. i believe that the officer was out of desperation to reach his ticket quota or the other reason i could think of was discrimination.....a few months later the company Macys sends me a letter and wants us to pay $500 in restitution. some ppl call it a civil demand. the letter was from a law firm representing macys. it states that if i do not pay it legal action will take place by the company and i will incur court fees and etc. i called them and they said if i do not pay by this date i would be in even more trouble. so we both paid them.

NOW TO THE INTERESTING PART: it didnt really hit me until i opened up the board of pharmacys application. i was really pissed off like never before. i feel like i didnt receive justice on my part.

IT STATES IN THE CRIMINAL PART:

SECTION 7 – CRIMINAL ACTIVITY / DISCIPLINARY ACTIONS
La R.S. 37:1216 requires the Board to conduct a criminal history check on applicants as a condition for eligibility for licensure. Upon receipt of your properly completed application, you will be provided with the materials needed to conduct a criminal record search with the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Criminal history reports generated for or by another agency will not be accepted to satisfy this requirement.

YOUR CREDENTIAL WILL NOT BE ISSUED UNTIL THE RESULTS OF THIS RECORD SEARCH HAVE BEEN RECEIVED.
NOTE: Failure to disclose criminal history is grounds for immediate denial of your application, EVEN IF THE RECORDS HAVE BEEN EXPUNGED.

Have you EVER been arrested in any state? __X____ No ______ Yes

Have you EVER had any disciplinary or adverse action taken against you by any other government agency or court in any state?
______ No ______ Yes

Are you currently charged with the commission of a felony in any state? __X____ No ______ Yes

Have you EVER been convicted of a felony in any state? ___X___ No ______ Yes

If you answered “Yes” to ANY of the questions in Section 7, you must attach a letter of explanation and a CERTIFIED COPY of the court judgment in the case for EACH incident.
If charges were dismissed, provide a letter from the appropriate agency confirming dismissal of the charges.

I CAN ANSWER NO TO ALL THE OTHER QUESTIONS WHICH I INDICATED WITH AN "X" BUT HOW SHOULD I ANSWER THE QUESTION THAT I BOLDED. SHOULD I ANSWER YES AND EXPLAIN.

IM ONLY A P1 BUT I DONT THINK ILL BE ABLE TO BECOME A PHARMACIST AND SHOULD QUIT SCHOOL RIGHT NOW.

THANKS FOR ALL YOUR HELP!!!!!

 

[jawnly211]

if the case was dismissed, then sounds like ur record is clean

don't worry about it

i have known PLENTY of pharmacists who received DUI's in undergrad and had to put it on their pharmacy application

all it does is it delays your processing time a couple weeks since they have to look into the charges

there is no need to "drop out"

not all pharmacists are "perfect"..........hahahahahahahah

 

[sammy15]

Have you EVER had any disciplinary or adverse action taken against you by any other government agency or court in any state?
______ No ______ Yes



Your answer should be no to this question. Macy's threatened to sue you in civil court. However, you paid them prior to it going to court. BUT..


Have you EVER been arrested in any state? __X____ No ______ Yes

Your answer to this question is YES. You were issued a summons. A summons IS an arrest. The only difference is that you don't go to lockup for the night. (If you didn't sign it, you would have). You were basically just promising to appear in court without having to go through the process of bonding out. You had to go to court and plead not guilty because you were arrested, even if the case was eventually dismissed. You can get a copy of your criminal history for a fee (usually from your state police) to check and make sure nothing ended up on it.

Don't worry so much about this. I would just be honest, prove you were found not guilty, and move on. Even if you were convicted, I doubt this would be too much of a problem because it is not drug related and it is not a felony.

 

[Priapism321]

Your only option is to drop out now so you do not waste any more time and money than you already have. There is no way you are ever getting a pharmacy license with that type of rap sheet.

 

[ItsOverZyvox]

Dude.. your friend actually posted about this some months ago.. you can read it here. You're in Louisiana..right?

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=572854&highlight=shoplifting

 

[Quiksilver]

if you had the receipt, how do you not use that as proof of being falsely accused?

 

[ItsOverZyvox]

.........

 

[koldboi]

if you had the receipt, how do you not use that as proof of being falsely accused?

i did bring it to court and when i got there they judge called my name and said the case was dismissed. the problem is that why do they still require us to list it on the application. it seems like that if you have any court related issues you would still have to list regardless of what happens if you are guilty or not guilty etc....

 

[ItsOverZyvox]

i did bring it to court and when i got there they judge called my name and said the case was dismissed. the problem is that why do they still require us to list it on the application. it seems like that if you have any court related issues you would still have to list regardless of what happens if you are guilty or not guilty etc....

Dude, are you currently charged with a felony or have you had an action taken against you by a court? If not, then you list NO. If you have been convicted or been handed down a penalty from a state agency or a court...then you have issues. But according to your "story" that is not the case... so why are you worried???

 

[BMBiology]

Your story seems to be all over the place. First you said they wrongly accused you of shoplifting and the case was later dismissed but yet, you agreed to pay the fine? Either you did something wrong or you didn't.

If you want people to help you, you should come clean and post anonymously. If you pleaded guilty to a crime, then go talk to your school's dean for advise. You should also come clean with the Board of Pharmacy because they will find out since you will be required to go through the FBI background check. Hiding something is worse than the actual crime.

 

[naseuy]

The shoplifting charges were droppe. S/he didn't pay a fine.

Macy's threatened to sue.

 

[koldboi]

the point is i didnt do anything wrong. i got a background check from my sheriffs office and it didnt have anything on there. however when i apply to the board in my state i still have to explain the situation.

i just have to explain to them what happened and get a letter from the court that it was in fact dismissed. it varies state by state as far as the applications i saw.

i guess the point is to be truthful and rather than try to hide anything.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR INPUT

 

[Allure]

Why didn't you just let Macy's sue you?? If you didn't do it, there is no way they can win. In order for them to win, they have to show that they have some evidence against you. You can even counter sue them for the distress they are causing you. I'm not really sure I understand why you paid $500.

 

[koldboi]

Why didn't you just let Macy's sue you?? If you didn't do it, there is no way they can win. In order for them to win, they have to show that they have some evidence against you. You can even counter sue them for the distress they are causing you. I'm not really sure I understand why you paid $500.

i am going to see a lawyer this week for a free consultation about this. this is what was on there FAQ where i sent the payment to. i am going to see if i can fight this.

What are civil recovery laws?

State laws that give retailers and others the right to recover damages and/or civil penalties from shoplifters and dishonest employees.

What is civil recovery?

When a shoplifting incident occurs there are two laws that have potentially been violated; a civil law and a criminal law. The local authorities handle the criminal law. The civil law was put into effect by state legislatures for all retail establishments. They use this law to compensate for the losses that are generated by shoplifters who get away with theft, to compensate for the expenses associated with combating theft and to penalize theft offenders for their improper acts and deter them from repeating the offense in the future. The stores did not create these laws; they simply make use of the state statutes.





I went to criminal court, why do I have to pay this?

Criminal laws and civil laws are two separate laws that are in most states independent of each other. The local authorities and the local prosecutor or state attorney would handle the prosecution of any criminal offenses. The letters sent by our office are notices that the store is considering pursuit of rights and/or remedies available to them by civil law in the state where the offense occurred. The retailer has retained this Law Firm to make this request for a civil penalty and/or other damages.







Do I still have to go to criminal court if I pay the civil demand?

Yes. Payment of the civil demand takes care of the civil matter referenced in the letter only. If there is a criminal court action (you would most likely have either been arrested or given a Notice to Appear by a police officer for this to apply), then you need to comply with the rules of the criminal court that has jurisdiction for the criminal matter. Payment of a civil demand does not relieve you of possible criminal liability but would ensure that you would not have any further civil liability for that particular claim. Restitution claims to cover losses sustained for items that were not recovered may be addressed in a separate civil claim or may also be addressed during criminal proceedings.

Do I receive anything once I pay the demand in full?

Approximately seven weeks after the demand is paid in full, you will receive a release or payment receipt letter. A release or receipt of full payment letter is proof of payment and clears you of any civil liability related to the underlying matter.

 

[BMBiology]

If you did nothing wrong, then you shouldn't agree to pay anything to Macy. If you did, not only do you have to explain it to the Board of Pharmacy but you would also need to explain it EVERY time you apply for a job.

 

[ItsOverZyvox]

Did you shoplift or not?

 

[sammy15]

Civil court is much different than criminal court. To be convicted of a crime you need the entire jury to find you guilty. In a civil hearing you only need 51% against you to lose. (Hence OJ Simpson being found not guilty in criminal court, but being fiscally liable in civil court for murder). All they need to do is think you did it not beyond a reasonable doubt to make you pay. Your recollection of events doesn't sound entirely factual, esp considering the old post Z pointed out, but either way, you were arrested, and you need to tell them you were. If they find out you were and you lied you are for sure screwed. Good luck.

 

[nampa1]

Have you EVER had any disciplinary or adverse action taken against you by any other government agency or court in any state?
______ No ______ Yes



Your answer should be no to this question. Macy's threatened to sue you in civil court. However, you paid them prior to it going to court. BUT..


Have you EVER been arrested in any state? __X____ No ______ Yes

Your answer to this question is YES. You were issued a summons. A summons IS an arrest. The only difference is that you don't go to lockup for the night. (If you didn't sign it, you would have). You were basically just promising to appear in court without having to go through the process of bonding out. You had to go to court and plead not guilty because you were arrested, even if the case was eventually dismissed. You can get a copy of your criminal history for a fee (usually from your state police) to check and make sure nothing ended up on it.

Don't worry so much about this. I would just be honest, prove you were found not guilty, and move on. Even if you were convicted, I doubt this would be too much of a problem because it is not drug related and it is not a felony.

For the question about a state agency would a state college giving a disciplinary action be considered yes? I assumed this question was against a license, but a clown in Ohio said it could be a yes answer because my college was a state school.

 

[npage148]

Seriously? Let macy's take you to court and bust out the receipt. It's over and done. What about this is hard?