Shoplifting 14 YO girl

[woodym]

Minnesota
My 14 year old daugther was cited for "Shioplifting" last October and we just finally got some notification from the courts. They have offered two options.
Option #1 - Plead guilty, Pay $75.00 to courts, Write a letter to victim, attend an 8 hour class with a parent on a Saturday.
Option #2 - Call to plead not guilty and setup court date.
My problem here is that although she was charged they found nothing in her possesion, and they readliy admitted that they saw her take nothing. She was with three other girls of similar ages and only one of them was stealing from the store. The other two were caught with nothing nor seen taking anything. My daughter has been banned from all three of these friends already, and has had other discipline imposed due to her bad choices. So, now for the question.
Should we choose the court option and gamble on the fact that she had nothing in her posession?
Thanks Mike

 

[stealth2]

And your daughter knew nothing about her friend stealing, right?

 

[woodym]

And your daughter knew nothing about her friend stealing, right?

I asked for an opinion or some real help, not sarcasm. In any case she claims that she knew nothing about it until they were grabbed on the way out.

 

[Happy Trails]

I asked for an opinion or some real help, not sarcasm. In any case she claims that she knew nothing about it until they were grabbed on the way out.

You have two options. You are the ones that are going to have to decide. Some people will pick option #1 to get it over with.
Some will pick #2, if they believe they have done nothing wrong and don't want to plead guilty to it.

 

[signat]

I asked for an opinion or some real help, not sarcasm. In any case she claims that she knew nothing about it until they were grabbed on the way out.

I don't he/she was being sarcastic. If she knew it was going to happen, it would be a factor. If her story remains that she knew nothing of it and none of her three friends implicate her, then plead not guilty.

 

[stephenk]

unless they are charging her with conspiracy to shoplift, the case against her for shoplifting alone is weak. hire an attorney and plead not guilty. let your daughter work off the money to pay for the attorney.

 

[stealth2]

I asked for an opinion or some real help, not sarcasm. In any case she claims that she knew nothing about it until they were grabbed on the way out.

Less sarcasm, more cynicism. It's the rare kid who'd admit that they actually knew their "friend" was going to steal/rob/rape/carjack/etc and they went along with it.

 

[snookman31]

Its called acting in concert, basically if your daughter was with someone stealing and the store can prove she had knowledge and did not separate herself from the person committing the crime. She is just as guilty as the person walking out the door with the merchandise. Normally a store will have a set policy in which a security staff can take someone into custody for this and the person had to play a active role in the theft. I would assume that if they did not have enough evidence to charge your daughter they would have simply trespassed her and charged the other girl. Unfortunately, parents never get the full story until this goes to court and the security video is shown. I would take it as a learning experience and use this as a example to your child on the consequences of their actions. Its better that her friend and her were caught early and not after she turned 18.