Shoplifting charge dismissed against prosecutor

Citing her clean record and completion of an online course, the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office declined to prosecute assistant state attorney Stacey Honowitz after she was accused of stealing makeup from a Publix store.

Publix employees said Honowitz put mascara, lipstick and other cosmetics worth $42 into her purse Sept. 15, an act recorded on store video. She then left the store without paying for them.

Aventura police were called and an officer wrote her a “promise to appear” notice for petit theft. She was not taken into custody and was allowed to leave with her purchases.

Honowitz, 56, a supervisor in the Broward state attorney’s sex battery unit who has three decades of experience, faced a misdemeanor charge and a whole lot of embarrassment. She pleaded not guilty.

The Broward state attorney’s office temporarily suspended her from the job that pays $108,000.

“What Stacey did was a terrible mistake and lapse in judgment and forgetfulness,” her lawyer, Jayne Weintraub, said Tuesday. “It was not a crime.”

A Publix employee stopped Honowitz as she left the store at 18995 Biscayne Blvd. in Aventura where she had shopped with her parents and daughter, authorities said.

Honowitz apologized for forgetting to pay for the items and offered to buy them, a prosecutor’s memo said.

She had spent $124.16 in the store and then bought lottery tickets.

Weintraub said Honowitz was distracted while shopping with her family.

“She unhesitatingly threw the items on her purse intending to pay at the checkout,” Weintraub said. “There were

Publix employees standing right next to her. She didn’t put it in her pocket so nobody could see. She obviously had money to pay. She did not intend to steal. She waited on line for a lottery ticket. These are not the actions of a thief.”

Publix’s policy is to prosecute thefts of more than $25, and they reported it to Aventura police, the Miami-Dade state attorney’s office said.

Honowitz has a reputation as a tenacious prosecutor and advocate for victim’s rights. She has self-published two books for young readers about how to avoid molestation, entitled “My Privates are Private” and “Genius With a Penis: Don’t Touch.” Her situation prompted judges, victims and others to offer support, Weintraub said.

“To demonstrate her sincere remorse and not wanting any special treatment” and to satisfy prosecutors, Honowitz took a four-hour internet class about stealing, Weintraub said.

After reviewing the store video and reports from Publix employees and police, the MiamiDade State Attorney’s Office declined to prosecute the misdemeanor charge.

“Stacey regrets all the time and effort that was spent on this investigation,” Weintraub said.

The Broward State Attorney’s Office said Tuesday that after the case was closed on Nov. 5, Honowitz was restored to her job. While she was suspended and absent from work, she used vacation time and will not be paid for approximately 20 additional days.