Walmart 1879 Barstow Humiliated me. Violated my rights Barstow California

First of all, I hope and pray that neither yourself or the person who commented above you ever come to a point in your life where you or someone you love makes a poor choice when they're find themselves in a bad spot - and end up paying a price that seems to far outweigh the crime.  Yes, this person screwed up - they made a poor decision - and they are going to pay not once, not twice, but at the very least three times for this mistake.  Two different arrests, plus the courts to deal with which means the punishment phase hasn't even begun on that end. Telling someone off, who is not only upset at their own decisions, but ashamed of the punishment they had to endure, is a pathetic action that does nothing but make you feel superior to this person...and I've got news for everyone here - there isn't one of you that is better than the other.  This person went left when he should have gone right, are you honestly trying to sell the story that you've never done anything in your entire life that you're ashamed of.  Maybe if you were blasted this way you would understand the impact of your bullying behavior.

To clear up certain errors in the cruel, bullying statement that was made...beng caught by loss prevention and arrested by police simply means that you have been charged with the crime of shoplifting - it does not mean that you have yet been found guilty of the crime of which you are accused.  As you are innocent until proven guilty - you retain all of your rights.  Even if convicted, you do not forfeit all of your constitutional rights.  You may decide to waive certain rights - especially during the court phase of this incident, such as the right to an appeal if you decide to take a plea bargain, but there is no power (not even in the highest levels of government) that can take away a persons constitutional rights.

Being forced to stand infront of the public, in a symbolic of medieval times where criminals were locked into stockades and left in the open for the public to humiliate and abuse.  According to Alan Freeman, a Retail Law Strategist, "How a person is treated during the course of a detention can have a significant impact on whether that person feels sufficiently aggrieved to file a lawsuit for discrimination or mistreatment. Accordingly, detention processing should be “humane” and efficient, while still being safe and secure for employees, detainees and others."  When talking about police, they have an even larger responsibility to ensure fair and humane treatment, or they risk exposing the city or county they work for to Civil Rights litigation.  THe long and short of it - no, they had absolutely no right to strip you of your dignity and hang you up on a stake ensuring maximum humiliation - to do this to anyone, regardless of the crime, is inhumane and just plain cruel.

And, before I step off my soap box, there is another issue that I would like to touch on - and that is the ignorant statement that says this person will only be able to get low-paying, unskilled labor employment as a result of this action because the stigma of the crime will hang around for the rest of his life.  This is not true.  Let me repeat myself...this is NOT true.  Case in point - lets assume that this person is going before the courts as a first time offender - in the state of Texas, even though the phone was $449, this would still be classified as a Class B Misdemeanor.  A first time offender with this type of crime will likely be offered a plea bargain of deferred adjudification with 1 year probation, 24-40 hours community service, and a class or two, as well as submitting to random drug testing.  As long as this person meets all of the courts requirements, meaning that he reports to his probation officer when he's supposed to, completes any assigned classes and community service hours, passes any possible drug tests, and refrains from committing any other offenses, his case will be completed.  BUT - while the arrest will show up on his record should certain organizations look for this when performing a criminal background check- there will be no conviction on his record.  NO CONVICTION.  Plus - he can later petition the court to have the case expunged from his record, and if approved by the judge, it could potentially look as though the incident never happened.  

Do I know what I'm talking about?  Yes.  I too had a bad lapse in judgment and found myself in the back of a squad car charged with Class B Misdemeanor theft back in Nov 2003.  I went through the whole process of paying the bonds, getting the public defender, going through probation, drug testing, and everything that entailed.  Twelve months after my court setting, I was free to go with no further obligations - and no conviction on my record.  This was February 2004.  In June of 2005 I started my first day on the job as a cashier for my local Wal-Mart store.  And they DO perform criminal background checks.  6 months later I was promoted to front end supervisor.  3 years later, I decided to step away from the customer interaction and I moved into the store's "cash" office, where I processed all the daily cash sales for the entire store.  I handled hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash nightly.  In 2011 I left Wal-Mart behind to persue an interest in criminal justice.  With my bachelors in hand now, I currently provide services to the Texas Department of Crminal Justice.  So clearly, a shoplifting charge, while serious, is not the end of the world - especially for a first time offender.  And yes, I would speak to an attorney about what happened to you, perferably one who specialized is civil rights.  Wal-Mart likes to protect their image, if you were to file suit and created enough public awareness, you'd be surprised how they would attempt to settle the matter.  

To those who still believes that this person deserves to go through what he already has, and then be publicly humiliated here online - let he with no sin cast the first stone... 

May I be among the first to encourage you to file a lawsuit. Request a jury trial. Alert the media as to the trial date. That way, the judge, the jury, the defense attorney, and the entire media will have the opportunity to tell you in no uncertain terms what a piece of low-life crap you really are.

OMG! I just realized that you might sue me for calling you "a low-life piece of crap." Gee, I really am sorry that I hurt your feelings and humiliated you by making you look really stupid.  Making you look really stupid was uncalled for on my part.  You do a pretty good job of making yourself look really stupid without my help.

 And YOU WILL LOSE!!! Firstly, YOU gave up ANY claim to "rights" being violated once YOU attempted to STEAL!!!!At that point the ONLY rights you had were your HUMAN RIGHTS and Im NOT seeing any violation. YOU ARE A THIEF!!! Accept that YOU ARE A THIEF and move on. YOU screwed up and THIS will follow YOU for the rest of your life!!! It is NOW a matter of public record that YOU ARE A THIEF!!!YOU wont be getting ANY job that handles money AT ALL!!! No retail company will EVER have YOU as a employee. So basically YOU are a THIEF and will NOW be washing dishes for the rest of YOUR life. You go right ahead with your FRIVILOUS lawsuit. YOU are the ONLY one who will be hurt in it. Because YOU WILL LOSE!!! The begining act was YOU STEALING!!!! Everything that comes from that one act is YOUR FAULT!!!!There isnt a lawyer crazy or stupid enough to file such a frivilous lawsuit on YOUR behalf. The best YOU can hope for is that THEY forget YOU. But I DISPISE thieves!!! people like YOU think its a victimless crime but its ONLY victimless because YOU DONT SEE THE DAMAGES!!!! That display model is CHEAP!!! $449.00 is HALF of what MY display models!!! If one gets stolen I am charged $999.00. THAT IS A DISPLAY MODEL!!!!! Im going to email WalMart and point THEM to YOUR post. YOU think YOU are safe online, if YOU are NOT smart enough to figure out you shouldnt steal then YOU are NOT going to be smart enough to have covered your tracks online. With just a court order THEY can prove YOU wrote this post. And its ILLEGAL to make a FALSE post DEFAMING anyone on a media outlet and THAT is what YOU have done.