Archive for January, 2011
Expungement of Criminal Convictions in California
Offenses NOT Eligible For Expungement In California
Before you spend your time reading on, here are a list of offenses that are NOT eligible for expungement: Vehicle Code Section 42001(b) which includes sections 2800, 2801 and 2803; Penal Code Section 261(d), 286(c), 288, 288a(c), 288.5 and 289(j).
Additionally, if you were convicted of an offense that resulted in a State Prison sentence, you will similarly not be eligible for expungement, but may be eligible for a Certificate of Rehabilitation from the California Board of Prisons.
Offenses Eligible For Expungement In California
Aside from the excluded offenses above, your conviction is eligible for expungement if: 1) You were convicted of a misdemeanor and given probation: you complied fully with all of the requirements, including payment of all fines, restitution and reimbursement, and do not have any current criminal charges pending; or 2) You were convicted of a misdemeanor and not given probation, did not serve time in State Prison: it has at least a year since your conviction and you have paid all fines, restitution and reimbursement, have not been charged with any crimes and are living an honest and upright life and have obeyed all laws; 3) Were charged with a felony that was reduced to a misdemeanor and you are eligible under either 1 or 2 above.
Why Should You Apply For An Expungement?
There are several personal and professional reasons why someone would want to apply for an expungement. An expungement is not automatically granted, and will not be granted in the event that you have broken any law since you received your conviction, so the fact that your conviction is set aside proves to you and others that you have learned from your experience and have lived a law-abiding life since your conviction.
On a professional level, you can truthfully tell private employers that you have not been convicted of a crime. What’s more, California Labor Code §432.7 prevents employers from asking about any arrest that didn’t result in a conviction, inquiring about it from other sources or use it in a hiring decision. Note that if you ever apply for a job with a public entity, or for a professional license, when asked if you were ever convicted of a crime, you will have to report “Yes, and my conviction was dismissed.” Again, the fact that your conviction was set aside will definitely reflect more favorably on your character and indicates that you have fulfilled the requirements necessary to have your conviction set aside.
Additionally, most Licensing and Certification agencies in California will not grant a license to someone who has been convicted of a crime. The same is true for Governmental jobs. However, if your conviction has been expunged, most Governmental licensing and hiring agencies (except police agencies) are required to treat you the same as if you were never convicted of the crime.
What An Expungement Can Do For You
An expungement will reflect that your conviction has been set aside. An expunged record cannot be used by private employers as a basis to deny you employment. Also, in the State of California, Government Employers (except for the police) and Licensing Agencies such as the Department of Real Estate, Board of Nursing, etc., will treat you the same as if you have never been convicted of a crime if your record has been expunged.
What An Expungement CANNOT Do For You
An expunged record can still be reviewed by a judge for the purposes of increasing your sentence if you are ever convicted of another crime in the future. Also, an expungement does not wipe out your criminal record. Your criminal court file will not be physically destroyed, and is therefore searchable and is often discovered by private investigators and others who perform background checks. If your criminal court file is discovered, it will show that your conviction was set aside by the court. Accordingly, the Judicial Counsel of California advises that if you are asked by a private employer if you were convicted of a crime, you should answer “Yes, and the conviction was dismissed.” In the case of public employers and licensing agencies, you are required to answer that you have been convicted of a crime and that your conviction has been dismissed. Additionally, an expungement will not automatically grant you the ability to possess a firearm, nor will it restore any driving privileges that were revoked by the DMV due to the conviction. Similarly, an expungement does not restore your right to possess a firearm. Lastly, an expunged record does not relieve you of the duty to register as a sex offender if you are otherwise required to do so.
What If You Were Convicted Of A Felony?
If you were convicted of a felony and did not serve time in State Prison, you must first petition to have the felony reduced to a misdemeanor. If your petition is granted, you may then apply to have the conviction dismissed via expungement.
If your felony resulted in a State Prison sentence, you will not be eligible for an expungement; rather you may petition for a Certificate of Rehabilitation and Pardon.
Originally published here.
DUI Partners
How to clear your DUI Record – DUI expungement
Have you been arrested for DUI?
Do you have an older DUI arrest record that is haunting you when you are looking for a job or trying to obtain car insurance?
Are you spending hundreds and sometimes thousands of dollars in fines and penalties?
Do you just want to get your drivers license back?
A DUI is a mistake that can plague you for life & make your future miserable . From super high insurance rates to trouble passing a simple employment background check, those three letters will mark you as sure as if you had them written in red ink on your forehead. Figuring out how to beat a DUI is imperative if you are to get on with your life. Luckily, there are things you can do to completely erase or seriously minimize the damage a DUI does to your driving AND criminal records. If your DUI meets several simple criteria, you may be able to learn how to beat a DUI charge & have your record expunged completely, in all 50 states!
DUI convictions are a huge source of income to local governments in all 50 states, & there may be pressure to increase revenue by making more arrests. In addition, political lobbying groups such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving have a vested interest in keeping DUI arrests high.
The extremely polarizing nature of this offense has made DUI a “political” crime, with a one size fits all punishment system for ALL offenders. This means that someone who barely fails a sobriety test after having 2 or 3 glasses of wine at dinner gets the same punishment as someone who blows 3 times the legal limit after causing an accident with serious injuries. And when someone notices those 3 letters on your background check, they are likely to conjure visions of the second scenario.
All this means if you are convicted of a DUI, you’re life will change for the worse unless you educate yourself on how to beat a DUI charge. Even if your DUI is several years old, there are things you can do to minimize its effect on you life.
Clear Off Your DUI Records
A lot of individuals who have DUI records have no idea that they can actually clear their records. What is more, they do not know that they are given the chance to keep their bad records from appearing on background checks each time someone looks them up in databases. If you are one of these individuals, you now have an idea that you can clear your records. If your DUI record has been filed for many years already, you can have it cleared so your employment opportunities will not slip away. Conviction records due to driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol gives you a bad position in the society and in the eyes of the employers. This will ruin your chances of being able to land a job no matter your exemplary skills. If you have previous DUI records, make sure that you have it cleared.
Clearing Your DUI Records with the Help of an Attorney
If you have DUI records to clear, ask for the assistance of an attorney. A good lawyer will be able to help you clean your records permanently. If you want to hire an attorney, choose someone who specializes or knows how to handle DUI cases and records. There are a lot of lawyers within your state who act as defense attorneys for DWI or DUI cases. Aside from specializing in these types of cases, the attorney should also have a certification as an operator of breath tests. What is more, they should have certification as a trainer for SFST or standardized sobriety tests. With the help of the best state DUI attorney, you will have your DUI records cleared in no time.
Don’t let a DUI conviction keep you from getting a job, or hold you back in any way. Having a misdemeanor criminal conviction on your record is psychic baggage that you don’t need. Thanks to drunkdrivinginjurieslawyers.com, and the ability to expunge afforded by law, you don’t have to live with a DUI conviction on your record forever. Even if your drivers license was suspended and you have had license reinstatement, you may still expunge your driving record. If you’ve got a DUI record, go to drunkdrivinginjurieslawyers.com for help. Contact a qualified DUI expungement lawyer today.
Originally published here.
MikeDui
Existence Immediately after a DUI Conviction
Dealing with a DUI charge is a traumatic expertise but if convicted, the consequences could haunt you for a lifetime. The immediate complications such as temporary loss of your license, fines, compulsory alcohol classes, aside the extended phrase results are numerous.
Reality
You may possibly be a single of the lucky ones whose DUI lawyer has managed to get you off with just local community services and a okay. On the other hand, when rendering local community support, you will require to carry time off from your work. This will translate into loss of income for that period. It will be a main monetary setback, not to mention obtaining to pay the fine as properly.
Speaking of finances, you will also require to foot the bill for your DUI attorney. A conviction might even lead to you losing your occupation, which is a punishment in its own suitable. But, even when looking for a new chance, your DUI will figure prominently in the background checks that most employers do now. Unless your DUI attorney has been able to get your report expunged, there is no way close to this.
Depending on the Think
Having a record expunged is no simple feat either as state law decides whether this is possible or not. You are stuck with your criminal report if your talk about does not have provisions for expunging.
Extra Undesirable Information
The repercussions will also be felt on your vehicle insurance cover prices. There are two items that may occur – either they will refuse you insurance coverage outright or they will substantially boost your insurance plan costs. This is mainly because your DUI conviction will set you in the ‘high risk’ category promptly.
The other prolonged-term effect will be on your emotional and mental properly-getting. Irrespective of how fine your DUI lawyer was, you will carry on to question your decision to choose him or her to defend you. If you come to feel that you had been unjustly convicted, it is probable that you might begin to distrust the law and its officers.
There Will be Brighter Days
This is quite hazardous and you need to have to bring care that you do not go down that path. You may possibly experience depressed and overwhelmed, but do not give way to despair.
Originally published here.
Colby Curtis