Shoplifting and Petty Theft in Rhode Island

Shoplifting includes taking store merchandise intending to deprive the merchant of its value, switching or removing price tags, moving goods into another container to pay less, and taking a shopping cart off the premises. A first offense is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not less than $50 or two times the full retail value, whichever is greater, but not more than $500, and/or up to one year in prison. A person who has a prior shoplifting conviction and shoplifts merchandise worth more than $100 is guilty of a felony punishable by a fine up to $5,000, up to five years in prison, or both. A person convicted three times of shoplifting (or of shoplifting, larceny or receiving stolen goods) is a habitual offender, punished by a fine of $200 to $500 and six months to one year in prison. A merchant may also recover civilly the retail value of unrecovered merchandise, a penalty of not more than $100, and court costs.

Rhode Island's rule on court-appointed lawyers: The state Office of the Public Defender must represent and act as attorney for indigent defendants in criminal cases referred by the supreme, superior and district courts (and listed family court cases). An indigent defendant is a person who, after payment of necessary expenses for food, shelter and medical care, lacks sufficient income or assets to retain counsel and has no one legally responsible for his or her support who has such income or assets. To qualify, the applicant swears to an affidavit to that effect; the public defender may request further financial information or documents and investigate, and if the person is not indigent, notifies the referring court. False representation is penalized under § 12-15-11. R.I. Gen. Laws §§ 12-15-3, 12-15-8, 12-15-9

Lawyers set their own fees, and Rhode Island has rules on how they may charge. See hiring a criminal defense lawyer in Rhode Island for fee rules, how to check a lawyer's license and free help.

How release before trial works in Rhode Island: All persons imprisoned ought to be bailed by sufficient surety, unless for offenses punishable by imprisonment for life, for offenses involving the use or threat of use of a dangerous weapon by one already convicted of a qualifying offense (as the section specifies), or for listed controlled-substance offenses (such as trafficking, possession with intent to distribute, or possession punishable by ten or more years), when the proof of guilt is evident or the presumption great. There is no constitutional right to bail pending appeal of a conviction. A justice of the supreme, superior or district court may release a person held on a criminal charge on recognizance in the sum named in the process or, if none, any sum the justice deems reasonable. Surety, or a deposit of ten percent (10%) of the bail set with the court, is the sole monetary condition of release; a court may not require a cash deposit as the sole monetary condition (except where court-imposed restitution is owed), and a deposit is returned if the defendant appears as required. R.I. Const. art. I, § 9; R.I. Gen. Laws §§ 12-13-1, 12-13-10 What happens after an arrest.

Each state sets its own rules for sealing or expunging records. See Rhode Island expungement and record sealing rules.