Manuel Portela Jr.’s Answers

Are you certain that you were convicted of a misdemeanor Petit Larceny? If so, the advice from the learned atorneys who responded is accurate. You state that it is your first and only offense. Did you plead guilty or were you convicted after trial? If you entered a plea deal, defense attorney's negotiate with the prosecutor before entering a plea deal. Defense attorneys also often try to get a better deal than a plea to the misdemeanor charge on a first offense. You may have pled...

If you were not arrested, then no criminal charged were filed in the New York county Criminal Court. You will not have a criminal record, because you did not plead guilty nor found guilty after a trial of a crime. This will not affect your record with respect to college or a job.

If the police didn't arrest you or serve you with a Desk Appearance Ticket D.A.T. at the time you were stopped in the store it is unlikely that H&M will file charges on a later date. Regarding the demand letter for payment of a fine, if you do not pay the fine the store will have the option to sue you in small claims court or drop the claim. More likely than not, the department store will not pursue the claim because it is too costly to litigate it.

A "D.A.T."stands for Desk Appearance Ticket. When a person is charged with a low level Misdemeanor such as Criminal Possession of Marihuana in the 5th Degree and it is his first arrest, the arresting officer officer may either arrest the person until the arraignment, which can take between 24 to 48 hours, or issue a DAT directing him to appear in Criminal Court on a future date, time and place for the Arraignment. In this case, the officer used his discretion to give you a DAT instead of...

An attorney needs to research if an arrest warrant was ordered for not appearing in court or if in fact you were convicted in absentia. The arrest warrant is the more likely scenario. A good criminal defense atorney may be able to help you while you are in your country to vacate the warrant and try to resolve the your case with a non criminal resoultion, but with NO guarentees. The courts do not generally vacate warrants without the person charged being present in court. Your attorney...

I presume that you received a Marihuana A.C.D., as the arrest involves possession of marihuana for personal consumption. Note that you do not have a criminal record with a Marihuana A.C.D., and this should not prevent you from getting a new secuirty job in the future. You may have lost your job within one year after your arrest because there was this open case pending in the local criminal court after you accepted the Marihuana A.C.D. cases, which is not illegal. In the alternative,...

He should hire a private lawyer who can represent him for the new arrest and the separate case for the violation of probation. The outcome of the new arrest by plea or trial can have a bearing on the violation of probation case. It is better to have the same attorney handling both criminal cases.

When you both agreed to a payment plan it would have been advisable to have the payment plan agreement in writing. He can sue you for the full amount of the loan. He is within the statute of limitatin to file a demand for the full amount in court. Do not continue to send payments if he made it clear that he will not accept it. Set aside the payments in case he initiates a demand in small claims court. You will still have an opportunity to work out a payment plan with the assitance...

The loud partying clearly is affecting your use and enjoyment of your apartment, You should consult with a landlord/tenant attorney. A formal letter and notice to cure the loud noise by your neighbors as a breach of your lease agreement may be sufficient to get the landlord to take more aggressive measures to evict your neighbors. If you don't have a witness that can come forward to identify the perpetrator who intentionally damaged your property, you are out of luck in pressing criminal...

We need to review the felony complaint of the new Robbery charge and learn more about the new arrest before advising you of a plea disposition. Robbery is a felony. Regarding your fiance's probation, the New Jersey Probation Department will likely seek a warrant for his arrest if he is released after the Arraignment and schedule a Violation of Probation Hearing at the same time as the criminal prosecution is underway for the Robbery charge. It is important that you retain an...