Missouri Recent Legal Answers from Lawyers

Generally, In the state of Missouri, changing the name of a minor requires written, notarized consent (agreement) of each known parent. This written consent must be filed along with the petition for name change. Communication of information by, in, to or through this Web site and your receipt or use of it (1) is not provided in the course of and does not create or constitute an attorney-client relationship, (2) is not intended as a solicitation, (3) is not intended to convey or constitute legal advice, and (4) is not a substitute for obtaining legal advice from a qualified attorney. You should not act upon any such information without first seeking qualified professional counsel on your specific matter.... Read More

The police don't have to arrest you even if they charge you. It is perfectly legal to mail a ticket for DWI to you. Moving to another state does not solve the problem. You will never get the arrest warrant or the driver's license suspension lifted until you take care of the ticket for DWI. Hire an attorney who specializes in DWI and have the attorney take care of it for you.... Read More

No. All that matters is that the Prosecutor filed charges before the statute of limitations expired. It doesn't matter that they got your last name wrong. The Prosecutor or the police officer can correct any errors at any time, up to and including the first day of trial. That is not enough to be able to get the charges dismissed.... Read More

The outcome of your friend's cases depends on which court the cases are being prosecuted in. The maximum potential penalty is 1 year in jail and a $2,000 fine for a class A misdemeanor possession of marijuana or drug paraphernalia. For a first-time class D misdemeanor possession of marijuana (under 10 grams) or first-time drug paraphernalia charge, the maximum fine is $500 and no jail time. You don't want to plead guilty to drug charges because having a drug-related conviction on your criminal record can prevent you from getting a job, renting an apartment, or getting a loan. I suggest that you hire an attorney to get the drug charges dismissed or reduced to a lesser offense, such as "Littering."... Read More

It's good that she was not arrested. Her parents will need to hire a criminal defense attorney to represent her in court. The attorney can get the shoplifting charge dismissed or reduced to a lesser offense, such as "Littering." In my experience with shoplifting cases, often my clients never have to appear in court at all. The fines & costs associated with this will depend on which court her case is being prosecuted in, her age, her criminal history, and other specific details of her case. If you are interested in getting a price quote for legal representation, you can email me the name of the court (court name & address are listed on the citation the police gave her) and I can give you a price quote and estimate of the fine & court costs.... Read More

I recommend that you hire a criminal defense attorney to represent you for your drug paraphernalia charge. Depending on your criminal history and which court your case is being prosecuted in, your attorney may be able to get the ticket dismissed or amended to a lesser offense, such as "Littering." Police must have a reason to pull over a car, and then they can legally search the car without the driver's consent if they smell marijuana or if they claim that you seemed nervous, refused to answer questions, or any number of other excuses. Doesn't matter that the car didn't belong to you. Also, police officer does not have to give you a ticket for driving without a license,even if you were. It's the officer's decision regarding what tickets to issue, and then it's up to the Prosecutor to decide to file charges. The Prosecuting Attorney has up to 1 year (for misdemeanors) from the date of the incident to file charges against you, so they could still end up filing a charge against you for driving without a license if they want.... Read More

There is a new law in Missouri that states that there is no jail time possible for anyone charged with first-time offense of stealing under $150. However, if this is your 2nd offense, then that new law does not apply to you and so there is the possibility of you being sentence to the maximum 1 year in jail and $1,000 fine. I have never heard of anyone going to jail for even a 2nd shoplifting offense if you have an experienced attorney representing you, but it just depends on which court your case is being prosecuted in. I have experienced some courts in Missouri in which the judge requires 2 days in jail for a first-offense minor shoplifting offense. If you go to court on your own and plead guilty without an attorney representing you, you risk having the judge sentence you to 1-2 days in jail, and you will definitely end up with a conviction for stealing on your permanent criminal record, which can prevent you from getting a job, renting an apartment, obtaining a loan, or getting federal student aid for college. I highly recommend that you hire an experienced criminal defense attorney to get your shoplifting charge dismissed or reduced to a lesser offense, such as "Littering."... Read More

Yes, it's possible for a stealing charge to be dismissed, but you will have to go to trial, which can be expensive. In general, all stores have security cameras and "loss prevention" personnel who will testify against you at trial, stating that they saw you stealing. I suggest that you consult with an experienced criminal defense attorney to find out how strong your case is and whether it's worth the added expense of taking it to trial. It may be in your best interest to have your attorney negotiate a plea bargain deal with the Prosecutor to get your stealing charges dismissed or reduced to a lesser offense without going to trial. The outcome of your case depends a lot on the specific details of your case, what the police report says, your criminal history, which court your case is being prosecuted in, and how experienced your attorney is in handling stealing charges.... Read More

Do you mean that you have already pleaded guilty to all 4 shoplifting charges? If so, then no, you can't get those misdemeanor shoplifting convictions expunged right now. Starting January 2018, you can hire an attorney to file a petition for expungement and represent you at the expungement hearing, but you will have to have a clean record for 3 years (for misdemeanor stealing) since the conviction date before your attorney can file. So for example, if you pleaded guilty in December 2016 to shoplifting, you would have to wait until December 2019 before your attorney could file a petition for expungement. Another option for you to consider If not much time has passed since you pleaded guilty, and if you didn't have an attorney representing you, it's possible to hire an attorney to withdraw your guilty plea and negotiate a plea bargain deal with the prosecutor for some or all of these previous shoplifting charges and get the charges dismissed or reduced to a lesser offense, such as "Littering."... Read More

First, don't take legal advice from a police officer. You will definitely have to hire an attorney to represent you if you want to avoid having a conviction on your criminal record. In some courts, I am able to convince the Prosecutor to amend a charge such as yours to "Littering"but it just depends on your criminal history, which court your case is being prosecuted in, and the details found in the police report.... Read More

If someone deliberately lied about you to another, you may have a claim against them for libel (written defamation) and/or slander (oral defamation).   This means an intentional misstatement of fact, not a statement of opinion.  Generally, the statute of limitations on a defamation claim is short, for example in New York it is 1 year from the defamation.  Also, if someone was negligent and made a mistake about you, you may have a claim for negligent misrepresentation depending on what that person's relationship was to you.  I don't know if you could successfully assert such a claim against a co-worker in MO.... Read More

If the police officer handed you a summons, that means you have been charged. You will probably not also receive a summons in the mail as long as the ticket the police officer gave you states the court date and time. You need to either show up on the court date to answer to the charges or hire an attorney to represent you.... Read More

If you received a ticket and you don't go to court on your court date, and you don't hire an attorney to handle this for you, the court will issue a warrant for your arrest. An experienced traffic ticket lawyer can lift the warrant for you (depending on which court this is in) and represent you for the ticket. FYI - In addition to issuing a warrant, the court may have also suspended your driver's license because you failed to appear in court.... Read More

Old DUI convictions don't "drop off" of your criminal record. If you had just 1 misdemeanor DUI conviction, you could hire an attorney to get a first-time misdemeanor DUI conviction expunged from your record after 10 years of good behavior with no other alcohol-related law enforcement contacts. But if you receive other DUIs, you're not eligible for expungement of that first DUI conviction.... Read More