Theft and Shoplifting Lawyer in Tempe, AZ

One number, $1,000, decides where most Tempe theft cases go. Under A.R.S. 13-1802, a theft of property or services valued under $1,000 generally counts as a class 1 misdemeanor, and shoplifting under A.R.S. 13-1805 follows the same line. Property taken from a person, or a firearm, is treated as a felony at any value. Everything at or above $1,000 is a felony.

Below that line, the case usually stays local. Misdemeanors that occur in Tempe, under a state statute or the city code, belong to the Criminal Division of the City Attorney's Office, and they are heard at Tempe Municipal Court, 140 E. Fifth Street. That office does not investigate; Tempe Police do, and their Major Crimes Section includes a Property Crimes Unit.

Value is not the only route upward. A shoplifting charge becomes a class 4 felony if the State alleges a device or article was used to make the taking easier, or claims at least two qualifying offenses within the last five years, and the qualifying list reaches beyond shoplifting to theft, burglary, robbery and organized retail theft. A.R.S. 13-1819 makes organized retail theft a class 4 felony with no dollar minimum, and even one person acting alone can commit it. Most felony theft is charged by the Maricopa County Attorney's Office, and some retail theft cases by the Arizona Attorney General's Office, typically where the conduct reached beyond one county or a state agency led the investigation. Felony hearings are held at one of two Superior Court buildings downtown, the Central Court Building, 201 W. Jefferson St., or the South Court Tower, 175 W. Madison St. Confirm the building on your current notice. Whichever office brings the charge, we handle these matters.

A theft written up by DPS or the Sheriff's Office can be assigned to a Maricopa County justice court rather than the city court. Read the citation: it names both the agency and the court.

Many Tempe shoplifting cases begin with a citation handed over at the store. Tempe Municipal Court says the arraignment date is the appearance date on the citation or complaint, and that someone released from custody will find the court date on the release order. Other cases begin later: officers forward their report, and a prosecutor later weighs whether a complaint is warranted. That waiting period is not the end of the matter, and it is often a productive time to involve a lawyer.

Do not assume the court will appoint you a lawyer. Arizona Rule of Criminal Procedure 6.1(b) entitles an indigent defendant to appointed counsel in a proceeding that may result in punishment by loss of liberty. In misdemeanor court, the prosecutor can avow that no jail will be requested and the judge can rule that no jail will be imposed, and once that happens, there is no right to appointed counsel at all. Arizona's Court of Appeals upheld exactly that in Campa v. Fleming, 134 Ariz. 330 (App. 1982), on a class 1 misdemeanor carrying up to six months in jail, for a defendant who was on probation and facing immigration consequences.

Tempe's court phrases its own guidance carefully: an appointed attorney "may be provided" in certain cases, people who cannot afford counsel may apply, and a defendant can be ordered to contribute toward that lawyer's cost.

Avoiding jail is not the same as avoiding a conviction. Theft reads as a dishonesty offense, so even a misdemeanor can come up in hiring, licensing and rental screening, and it can carry federal immigration consequences. A quick plea now can also become one of the two priors that make a later shoplifting a class 4 felony.