3+ years ago, I almost walked out of a clothing store wearing cuff links I hadn't paid for. I had been trying them on and forgot to remove after the register (though I'd purchased a suit). The manager confronted me, and I quickly returned them with a sincere apology. Unfortunately, he was very hostile and accused me of having more stuff. I denied it and I emptied my pockets as proof.
I was in a hurry to get to a formal banquet and I didn't care for his overtly racist remarks so I left the store after 5 minutes when I clearly showed him I had nothing on me. As I was driving out of the parking lot, his (son?) banged my car window and continued with the racist insults and accusations. I lowered my window, told him I stole nothing, and that I was leaving. I drove off.
Weeks later, I'm charged with two misdemeanors: theft over $50 and assault w/bodily injury. The son claimed my car smacked his shoulder as I was driving away (BS
). Due to my ethnicity and the history of the county, my lawyer told me to plead guilty to the assault charge since a jury trial would've been too costly and far away from home. The theft charge was dismissed, and I did 3 months of probation/community service for the assault under deferred adjudication.The character and fitness questions for all my schools ask the following:
Have you ever been arrested, cited, ticketed, or charged with any violation of law excluding minor traffic violations?
Have you ever been convicted of an offense, placed on probation, or granted deferred adjudication?
Is this too much information? How do I sound contrite for something I wasn't guilty of? Or, to keep it non-controversial and simple, should I just confess that I did steal, that I accidentally bump the son, that I'm sorry, never going to happen again, etc.?
EDIT: Do law schools or state bars have access to the actual police file or just the general court document with docket numbers, pleas, and so on?
