What Happens After a First Shoplifting Charge in Minnesota?

What happens after a first shoplifting charge in Minnesota? A person charged is prosecuted under the state's theft law, and the possible sentence depends mainly on the value of the merchandise. It ranges from a misdemeanor with up to 90 days of jail to a felony with up to ten years of possible imprisonment (Minn. Stat. § 609.52). A charge is not a conviction. A store may also bring a separate civil claim for the value of the goods plus additional damages (Minn. Stat. § 604.14).

How the law treats taking store merchandise

Minnesota's theft statute covers a person who intentionally and without claim of right takes, uses, transfers, conceals or retains movable property of another without the owner's consent, with intent to deprive the owner permanently of the property (Minn. Stat. § 609.52). Merchandise on a shelf is movable property, which the statute defines as property whose physical location can be changed (Minn. Stat. § 609.52). Concealing merchandise is itself one of the listed acts.

Intent matters. Acting intentionally means the person either has a purpose to do the thing or believes the act will cause the result (Minn. Stat. § 609.02).

A criminal charge is an accusation, not a finding. A conviction means a guilty plea, a jury's guilty verdict, or a court's finding of guilt, accepted and recorded by the court (Minn. Stat. § 609.02).

How value sets the possible sentence

For theft, the statute ties the maximum sentence mainly to the value of the property. Value is the retail market value at the time of the theft (Minn. Stat. § 609.52). The statute says a person "may be sentenced" as follows, so these figures are ceilings, not required penalties (Minn. Stat. § 609.52):

• $500 or less: up to 90 days in jail, a fine of up to $1,000, or both.

• More than $500 but not more than $1,000: up to 364 days in jail, a fine of up to $3,000, or both.

• More than $1,000 but not more than $5,000: up to five years in prison, a fine of up to $10,000, or both.

• More than $5,000: up to ten years in prison, a fine of up to $20,000, or both.

The labels attached to these tiers come from the definitions section. A misdemeanor is a crime with a maximum of 90 days or a $1,000 fine, or both. A felony is a crime for which a sentence of one year or more may be imposed. A gross misdemeanor is any crime that is neither (Minn. Stat. § 609.02).

What can make a charge more serious

Several rules can move a case into a higher tier. One concerns repeated conduct. In certain theft prosecutions, the value of property taken within any six-month period may be added together, and the person may be charged based on the total (Minn. Stat. § 609.52).

A second rule concerns prior convictions. When the value is more than $500 but not more than $1,000, the maximum rises to five years and a $10,000 fine if the person was convicted within the preceding five years of a listed offense and received a felony or gross misdemeanor sentence, or a stayed sentence of that kind (Minn. Stat. § 609.52). That rule depends on a qualifying earlier conviction, so it does not apply to a person with none.

Third, certain circumstances raise the maximum to five years even when the value is $1,000 or less. Examples include property taken from the person of another, property that is a motor vehicle, and property taken from a burning, abandoned or vacant building (Minn. Stat. § 609.52).

Finally, the statute adds enhancements for risk of harm and for vulnerable victims:

• If a theft creates a reasonably foreseeable risk of bodily harm to another, a misdemeanor or gross misdemeanor becomes a felony with up to three years in prison or a fine of up to $5,000, or both (Minn. Stat. § 609.52).

• If the person knows or has reason to know the victim is a vulnerable adult, a misdemeanor becomes a gross misdemeanor, and higher levels are raised as well (Minn. Stat. § 609.52).

When a different crime may be involved

Some conduct connected to a store theft falls under other statutes. Robbery is the clearest example. A person who knows the property is not theirs, takes it from another person or in that person's presence, and uses or threatens imminent force to overcome resistance or compel acquiescence is guilty of robbery. That crime carries up to ten years in prison, a fine of up to $20,000, or both (Minn. Stat. § 609.24).

A forged check is treated separately as well. The theft statute's false-representation clause specifically excludes a forged check as defined in the check forgery law (Minn. Stat. § 609.52). That law makes it a crime, with intent to defraud, to falsely make, alter or endorse a check, or to offer or possess with intent to offer a forged check (Minn. Stat. § 609.631). It has its own sentencing scale based on the amount involved.

When no other punishment is fixed for a crime, a general statute sets default maximums by crime level. Theft has its own scale, so those defaults do not displace the tiers above (Minn. Stat. § 609.03).

The separate civil claim a store can bring

Criminal charges are not the only consequence. Minnesota law also makes a person who steals personal property civilly liable to the owner for its value when stolen, plus punitive damages of either $50 or up to 100 percent of that value, whichever is greater (Minn. Stat. § 604.14). For merchandise taken from a retail store, value means the retail price in the store when the theft occurred (Minn. Stat. § 604.14).

This civil liability stands apart from the criminal case in several ways:

• A criminal complaint, conviction or guilty plea is not required before civil liability can arise (Minn. Stat. § 604.14).

• Payment or nonpayment of the civil claim may not be used as evidence in a criminal action (Minn. Stat. § 604.14).

• Recovering the stolen item does not erase the liability, other than the part based on the item's value (Minn. Stat. § 604.14).

• A store may send a written demand for payment before starting a lawsuit, and the demand must include a copy of the statute and a description of the liability (Minn. Stat. § 604.14).

The statute also reaches parents and guardians. It applies a separate section on parental liability, and recovery is not limited to special damages (Minn. Stat. § 604.14).

Putting the pieces together

In short, a first shoplifting charge in Minnesota is a theft charge. The most important fact for the possible sentence is the retail value of what was taken. Prior convictions, aggregated thefts, special circumstances and risk of harm can raise the level. Separately, the store may pursue a civil claim whether or not a criminal case is ever filed.