Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

Re: From a felon to a pardon

In California there are certain offenses that can be charged as either a felony or a misdemeanor. In most counties these offenses are routinely charged as felonies. These charges are refered to as wobblers, and can be reduced to a misdemeanor either at the time of sentencing, one year after the conviction or completion of probation. The conviction can be reduced only if the defendant is sentenced as though it was charged a misdemeanor. That is the sentence is to county jail and or porbation. If the court sentences the defendant to state prison and suspends imposition of sentence the conviction cannot be reduced to a misdemeanor.

Most county probation departments have a procedure for reducing a wobbler to a misdemeanor and then having the conviction set aside and the court dismissing. this removes the conviction from your record for most purposes. the cost in Santa Clara County is $55 per application, which can include more than one case.

It takes 60 to 90 days to complete the process.

Re: From a felon to a pardon

This sounds like an offense that you can get "Expunged" or removed from your record. The steps you will need to take is to number one obtain the case number for your case. This will entail you going down to the clerks office and ordering your file. Due to the lack of time, your file is most likely in archives. So order your file and then get sound legal advice first. The next step is to submit you or your lawyer will submit either a form or motion to the judge to have him/her expunge the offense from your record.

Good luck.