One of the first things you may have said to your criminal lawyer after getting a Desk Appearance Ticket for shoplifting in New York City is something along the line of “I didn’t even walk out of the store and the police arrested me for shoplifting! How can that be?!” While this is a fact based question and answer (where were you specifically, where was the property concealed if at all, did you bypass the cash register, etc.), there is also a purely legal view of this question and answer as well.
Because merely an arrest for shoplifting (New York Penal Law 155.25 and New York Penal Law 165.40) can have grave consequences on the careers of professionals such as teachers, financial services employees, lawyers and doctors, it is imperative that your counsel take the time to explain how it is legally possible to be convicted of shoplifting without ever stepping foot out of the store.