The Woodlands Criminal Defense Attorney - What happens if you are convicted of theft?
Theft charges are among the worst types of convictions to have on "your record." A theft is what is called a "moral turpitude" crime. This means it is a crime that has been held to legally classify you as untrustworthy. Many employers will refuse to hire a person who has a prior theft conviction. It can also be used to impeach your credibility if you are a witness at a trial after your conviction and within 10 years under Texas Rule of Evidence 609.
However theft charges have many different ways to be resolved without a conviction. For example you could have the case dismissed because there is a lack of probable cause to believe:
That you are actually the person who stole the items to begin with;
That the items are not valued at greater than $100 and less than $750. (For Class B theft)
Or that you had the intent to permanently deprive or lacked consent to take the property from the owner.
You could also get deferred adjudication probation where the case is dismissed after completion of the probation and you could then apply for a non-disclosure after that.
If the prosecutor doesn't believe you are a large risk they may even offer for you to take an anti-theft class and then dismiss the charges allowing them to be expunged.
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