April 27, 2012

• Steven Topazio wrote this April 27, 2014 at 4:19 pm

The client, a 21 year old non citizen in the United States with a student visa, attending Boston Conservatory of Music, immediately hired Attorney Topazio to represent her after she was stopped by police and summonsed to court for a magistrate hearing after being accused of stealing cosmetics from a prominent downtown cosmetics store. The Client is a not a US citizen and was concerned about the possible immigration consequences this charge could cause her. Attorney Topazio explained to his client that a shoplifting charge would be considered a crime of moral turpitude under Federal law which could subject a non US citizen immigrant to suffer deportation consequences. Although not arrested, Attorney Topazio obtained the police report and informed his client that she was fortunate the officer did not arrest her which was the officer’s right when they respond to a dispatch of a shoplifter being detained. According to the shoplifting statute, Law enforcement officers may arrest without warrant any person they have probable cause to believe has committed the offense of shoplifting. All that is needed is a statement from the merchant that a person has shoplifted which is enough to constitute probable cause to arrest. Attorney Topazio pointed out that unless authorized by statute as was the case here, police cannot arrest for misdemeanors not committed in their presence. Today, at the clerk magistrate’s hearing, Attorney Topazio persuaded the Boston Police and the clerk magistrate not to issue the complaint against his Client but to hold the complaint for six months despite hearing enough evidence to find probable cause to issue the complaint. So long as the Client stays out of trouble, the clerk agreed to dismiss the complaint. As a result, the shoplifting charge will never appear on the Client’s CORI nor will it affect her immigration status.