Sometimes people find themselves in difficult points in life and make bad choices that lead to legal woes. Our client was facing significant stresses her life and had stopped taking prescribed medication. Things became much worse. Madison Police arrested her after she was caught stealing merchandise at a local store. Our client, who had no prior involvement with the criminal justice system hired the lawyers at Chirafisi & Verhoff. Our lawyers discussed the situation with the prosecution and explained our client’s situation and why we believed she ended up in trouble. The District Attorney’s Office agreed not to charge our client with a criminal offense, but instead agreed to issue a non-criminal ordinance violation. At first, the prosecutor insisted the client enter a plea to the reduced charge. Undeterred, our lawyers continued negotiations with the prosecution until we were able to secure an agreement by which the charge would be dismissed. Months later, with the client’s life back on track, the case is now dismissed.