In addition to being a serious charge, shoplifting can also be an embarrassing thing for which to be arrested. Because many shoplifting arrests take place immediately outside of the store, you're apt to find yourself humiliated as you stand in handcuffs around many other shoppers. Humiliation aside, you'll soon have to turn your attention to fighting the charge of shoplifting — especially if you were not actually trying to steal anything. There are certain scenarios that can potentially lead to shoplifting charges, but a good criminal defense attorney can work to ensure that these charges don't stick. Here are three scenarios that may work out well for you.

Your Child Had A Role

While you never want to commit a crime and then blame it on your child, the reality is that some children who are young — and who don't understand the severity of stealing yet — may contribute to your alleged shoplifting incident. All it takes is for a child to see something that he or she likes, take it off a shelf, and drop it in your purse or your pocket. Such an event can easily happen, and if you're busy concentrating on getting through your shopping list, you can overlook this incident — and be highly embarrassed when you're detained in the parking lot with an unpaid item in your possession. Your criminal attorney will seek to get surveillance camera footage from the store that shows your child's actions.

You Hadn't Left The Store

Generally, loss prevention officers will wait until you leave a store with an unpaid item to detain you and call the police to charge you with shoplifting. However, an inexperienced loss prevention officer might believe that you're stealing simply because you've placed something in your pocket. While it's never a good idea to carry an item that you intend to pay for in your pocket, doing so isn't necessarily illegal as long as you're still in the store. For a shoplifting conviction, it must be proven that you intended to remove the item from the store without paying. Any criminal defense attorney should be able to successfully argue that you had every intention of removing the item and paying for it when you got to the cashier.

You Had A Medication Issue

It may be possible that you walked out of a store without paying for something, but that you feel this behavior was a result of a medication issue that you were experiencing. For example, certain types of medication can affect your memory, and if you forgot to pay for something, this could be indicative of a side effect of the medication. Your defense attorney will need expert testimony from a medical professional who can support your claim that your medication made you make this mistake.

For more information, reach out to a criminal defense attorney near you.