It's hard to get around the term of "shoplifting" without the basic idea of it being that you took something of value from a store or business. It doesn't matter if you forgot to pay for it, or if suffer from kleptomania. The authorities won't be too forgiving when you are caught stealing. There are those people who commit shoplifting and admit to their wrongdoing. Some will say that even knowing that it was against the law, they did it because they thought they would never get caught. Showing this lack of remorse would be an example of how it can't help your case in court. A judge doesn't want to see, or hear, from a defendant who doesn't care about breaking the law.