There are many options when it comes to fighting back against theft charges, whether you are facing a petty theft charge, or a grand larceny charge. For a criminal complaint of larceny, prosecutors must prove that the defendant stole something they knew didn't belong to them, they did not have permission to take that item, and they had no intention of returning the item(s). The job of a criminal defense team is to disprove at least one of these three claims.
The route your defense counsel takes is dependent on your charges and the circumstances of your criminal complaint. Your defense lawyer could argue that you had good reason to believe that the item(s) you took either belonged to you, or you had permission to take them. An experienced theft attorney may also argue that you were under duress while committing the crime and that you only committed the theft or crime under threat of bodily harm or blackmail.
The last common defense is entrapment. In these cases, your attorney will argue that you only committed the crime under the encouragement or pressure of law enforcement, who were trying to trick you into committing a crime. For this defense, it is imperative that you and your defense team are able to prove that you would not have committed the alleged crime without the pressure and encouragement from the law enforcement officer you are accusing of entrapment. In these cases, it is imperative that you do not have prior arrests, charges, or convictions for similar crimes.