Lawyer explains why you should avoid self-checkout kiosks in stores that might land you in jail

A lawyer took to social media and shared her views on using a self-checkout counter. According to Carrie Jernigan, self-checkout counters might result in you being falsely accused of theft. The video was first uploaded on TikTok in 2022, and since then has continually gotten traction. In the first video, Jernigan listed the things that she as an attorney often avoids, which included using self-checkout counters. Looking at the response the video had gotten, she decided to make a follow-up video in which she explained her reasons. 

In the video, she explains that as a criminal defense attorney, she has seen three categories of individuals charged with theft after using the self-checkout counter at stores: those who intentionally steal, those who made an honest mistake and missed an item, and others who didn't take anything at all. 

She went on to talk about how the people who steal have become so competent that it's very difficult for the authorities to catch them. As a result, asset protection at big box stores is now less sympathetic to people who simply did not intend to steal. Now, despite having to intent to steal, customers who miss an item while checking out are now charged because these big box businesses aren't going to spend their time and resources trying to figure out if they did it on purpose.

"So they will begin watching hours of video to see that the last person to checks out with the Mario Lego set because they're two short," she says.  "And because of who these big box stores are, they usually have to present very little evidence to get an affidavit for warrant signed, the charges that could land you up to a year in jail get filed, and then you are fighting for your life trying to determine what day you were at Walmart, what all you bought," she adds.

She goes on to say that even proving that one didn't steal doesn't save the individual from the grueling process which can be both time-consuming and expensive. 

Many took to the video to share their views, with one user Tommy Drop "If u use self-checkout just make sure u don't steal even by accident, and ur good," while another user Febougie wrote, "When I was a probation officer, I had a dozen misdemeanor probationers from self-checkout errors. Literal mothers and old people."

Another user noturmom wrote, "Imagine Walmart ruining your life over $10. They sell expired food to people," another user on the other hand wrote about their first-hand experience with self-checkout going wrong, "My mom accidentally left a tiny $3 lemon oil in her cart after buying $300 in groceries. She was charged with theft and had to do community service," Beck writes. 

There were also people in the comment section who expressed their discontent with the self-checkout rules, "Took me 7 months and cost me 6,000 to clear my name after I was falsely accused and the evidence should have exonerated me immediately", writes KarenGilesAlabamabeaches. 

For more law content follow carriejernigan1, on TikTok.

Editor's note: This article was originally published on April 21, 2024. It has since been updated.