With prices of goods continuing to increase, some shoppers think it’s fair to switch retail price tags to secure a better deal. But doing is a form of theft, thereby constituting a crime. And the penalties tied to a theft conviction can be severe, including fines and significant jail time, not to mention the impact it can have on your ability to obtain and maintain employment. Therefore, if you’re accused of price tag swapping, you need to be prepared to aggressively defend yourself.
There isn’t a singular approach to these sorts of allegations. Instead, you have to analyze the facts of your case and determine which course of action is right for you. Here are some options that you may want to utilize, though:
- Exercising your right to remain silent: A lot of people who are convicted of criminal wrongdoing wind up in their position because they make incriminating statements to the police. If law enforcement starts asking you questions, be sure to exercise your right to remain silent. Your silence can’t be used against you to obtain a conviction.
- Arguing lack of intent: A theft conviction requires the prosecution to show that you intended to steal the goods in question so that you could convert them for your own personal gain. If they fall short in proving intent, then you shouldn’t be found guilty. So, consider any evidence you can present that may show that the tag switching in question was accidental, or find holes in the prosecution’s case that merely show that they’ve failed to meet their burden.
- Showing that you’ve been mistakenly identified: It might be hard to argue that the price tag in question was switched, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that you did it. Someone else could’ve switched the tag and you were just unfortunate enough to wind up with the item in question. Analyze the evidence in your case to see if there’s an argument that you’ve simply been misidentified. This could even include looking at surveillance footage that shows that an employee accidentally mislabeled the goods in question.
- Highlighting that actual theft didn’t occur: Sometimes loss prevention officers stop individuals who have been accused of price tag switching before they leave the point of sale. When this happens, theft may have been prevented, but the crime of theft never actually occurred. This means that you can’t then be convicted of theft.
What evidence do you need to be aware of in your price tag switching case?
Prosecutors usually have a lot of evidence to rely upon in these cases. As you build your criminal defense, then, you should be prepared to address witness testimony and, perhaps even more importantly, store video footage. You might be able to attack this evidence in multiple ways, including by addressing witness credibility and using the rules of evidence to argue that certain evidence hasn’t been properly authenticated or has otherwise been compromised. This could lead to evidence being blocked from being used against you, or it could dampen the impact that it has with the jury.
A strong criminal defense is key in one of these cases. If you don’t develop compelling legal arguments to fight back against the prosecution’s allegations, then you may find yourself at an increased risk of conviction.