Item exchange turned to shoplift charge

I bought a pair of shoes from a large store on the 26/10/09 (I have the receipt available). I wore the shoes on the 27/10/09 morning and realised that they were uncomfortable, gave me a lot of shoe bites and was ripping apart. So I promptly went back to the store and demanded that they exchange the shoes I was wearing for ones that actually fit me. They refused on basis that the shoes were worn and had no tags on.
Now the foolish part - On 29/10/09 I walked in the same store and left the shoes I was wearing on the shelf and tried walking out of the store with a smaller pair of shoes. I got caught by the undercover cop who charged me with stealing.
The store did not want to wipe the charge off and now I am left to appear in court late nov. The cops were understanding but said that they had no option but to charge me.
I have never done this before and would never condone it, but I was fired up by the fact that the store would not exchange a product that was not doing its job.
Will I get a criminal record if I plead guilty and explain my situation? (I am extremely worried about that).
Also am I being tried by the store or the state?
Thanks.

How much were the shoes?

Did the cops at any point in time ask you to pay for the items? Cops have an option not to send you to court but to ask you to pay for the stolen items then issue you out a fine and call it that... obviously you got some a$$hole cops who were after some promotions hence why they charged you and send yo u to court.

If you have no prior charges, plead guilty and get legal aid lawyer to represent you on the day, you will be ok, might get a fine and no conviction.

Also one of the cops (the sympathetic one) asked me if they could take a pic of the shoes earlier purchased and the receipt. I agreed as she said that this will help my case.
Do you think it will?

Steady on fellows, we don't want this to get out of hand.

Googler, please let us know how this turns out. Have you spoken with a solicitor?

Originally posted by googler Yes, I do feel extremely foolish and all for $43.95. I could have thrown the shoes in the bin and got new ones. I wish I had the option of a warning and a fine. In fact I did mention that a few times during my conversation with the cops, but was ignored. Do you think charity or community service prior to my court appearance will help the sentence/ avoiding the criminal conviction. It is absolutely important in my line of work to have no criminal records, so if I do get convicted, I am going to be unemployed for a long time... I am even contemplating having a chat with the store manager to withdraw the charge. If you think this is a good idea, how should I present my case?

A once off shoplifting charge is a minor mistake, its also under $600.

No need for charity work, do as i stated above.

The judge will see u did wrong, fessed up and slap u with a fine and no conviction.

Stress to him that u cant have conviction otherwise u will lose ur job.
sorry for my typin its late

Originally posted by googler I am in QLD. I plan to go to the store today and apologise. I hope and play that they withdraw the charge. I feel so guilty.. I cannot eat, sleep and concentrate on work. I have'nt eaten a single morsel since yesterday and although am at work cannot concentrate.

The store will not give a flying phuck if you apologise or not, they deal with people like you daily. They have thick skin when it comes to this kind of stuff, if they dont report you, they may get the sack themselves.

Once the cops get a sniff of your crime, no one can withdraw it but the cops and guess what cops do for living? they charge people, its their job. So you can give that idea a miss.

Sorry for my french but you seriously have phuck all to worry about, big deal u got done for sholifting some cheap shoes from a store... u are not a carer criminal, heck they didnt even do a search warrant on ur house liek they did on mine... so stop being a sook, go see legal aid, prepare two character references, plead guilty on the day and ask for non conviction because of xyz reasons (must be legitimate)

PS how old are you?

Originally posted by googler I am in QLD. I plan to go to the store today and apologise. I hope and play that they withdraw the charge. I feel so guilty.. I cannot eat, sleep and concentrate on work. I have'nt eaten a single morsel since yesterday and although am at work cannot concentrate.

If the store agrees to withdraw, then they need to contact the police and let them know of their intentions. The police then prepare a report which is included in your court paperwork. Your court date still goes ahead as normal, and the magistrate still hears your charge as normal. You still must attend as noraml. However, the prosecutor requests for the charge to be dropped due to the withdrawal and if the court agrees, you are not convicted.

That being said, getting the store and the cops to agree to this and co-operate to make it go smoothly and quickly is a hard thing to do. It happens, but not often.

As far as the photo that the cops took of the shoes; i dont think that would help you in any way. I doubt that the cops would go out of their way to do something that helps your case (they would more likely do the opposite). If you go in a plead guilty, then your case shouldnt take moe than five minutes. small charges like shoplifting are put through very quickly, like an assembly line. The sentence you get for this will probably be determined by your history, age, circumstances etc, rather then the specific circumstances of your offence.

By the way, shoplifting is not that bad. You should feel a little guilty, but its not something that you shouldnt be able to come back from. Everyone has lapses in judgement sometimes so try not to be too down on yourself.

Before you get too carried away guys do a bit of research on the defence of "claim of right" All the criminal code state jurisdictions have that defence available which is similar to the common law.

The value of the shoes I initially purchased was of a higher value thatn the ones I left with.

I agree with Not Guilty but I cant see that this can ever get beyond a magistrate.

You have a valid right of exchange, and that is the argument you should put up.

Hiring a lawyer will cost you so. and the chance of a criminal conviction over $43.95 is negligible.

The duty lawyer in the local court should be able to put up the argument for you or you can do it yourself if you feel that you can handle it, hire a lawyer if you want its up to you.