Legal Question in Civil Rights Law in California
My sister was accused by her ex boyfreind of domestic violence. I won't go into details about it, but it's a fabrication her ex made to spite her and get his revenge when she left him.
So, during the first court appearance, she pleaded not guilty. Durring the follow-up, the judge and DA concluded that the charge against her was asinine and offered her a week to consider something called a "diversion." Today she appeared again and rejected the diversion, opting instead to go to trial in 2 weeks. Meanwhile, the courts have been unable to contact her ex-boyfriend and are forcing an arraignment for him to show up in 2 weeks.
My sister generally believes that her ex won't show up for the trial, because he lied. But at the same time, she doensn't want to go through the bother of a 15 day trial.
Her fears lie in the fact that she is newly graduated from college and has goals of becoming a social worker. So, what does this diversion mean to her career aspirations? Will it show up on any crimial record? If she agrees to it, will it clear everything up and allow her to function through life as if nothing happened, or will records of it come back to haunt her in life? She still has some time to decide if a diversion is the right thing to do, but she needs some advice. Basically, if history of this domestic abuse charge doesn't show up on any background searches a company may pursue, she'll opt for it. If it does show up and potentially can destroy any possibility of her becoming a social worker, she'll appear for the trial instead.
Thank you for any assistance you can provide. It is grately appreciated.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Unfortunately, just having been arrested and charged with DV will prevent her from getting many good jobs. And you can't expunge an arrest record unless there's a conviction. If the victim doesn't show up, the case will probably be dismissed on day one.
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