Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

Re: Expunge

As far as Second or Third Strikes it doesn't help. When seeking employment, if your record has been expunged, you can truthfully answer that you do not suffer from a criminal conviction. The forms to expunge your record are very simple to fill out, and the criminal clerk at the court has them. You can fill them out in the time it took me to answer your question.

For police purposes, gun ownership, enlisting in the armed forces, seeking certain sensitive jobs with governmental agencies or defense contractors the information is available. However, you may always answer truthfully that you've never been convicted.

Re: Expunge

Thanks for your post. Mr. Hobbs has given a short and excellent answer to your question, to which I can only add that when records of an arrest or conviction are sealed or expunged (a notation is made in the file that the records are off limits to all except law enforcement personnel), you can, for some purposes, treat the arrests or convictions as though they had never happened.

For example, assume that your conviction for misdemeanor possession of an illegal drug is expunged. On applications for school, a job or a professional license, you may be able to answer that you have no arrests or convictions (assuming no others exist).

You will have to apply (in writing) for expungement. Arrest and conviction records are not automatically expunged or sealed after a period of years.

Even though a conviction has been expunged, in some circumstances it can still be used to increase the severity of a sentence should a defendant again be convicted. For example, an expunged conviction may subject a defendant to a "three strikes" sentencing law.

Convictions cannot be expunged until about a year after they occur, and then only if the defendant is done serving the sentence and is facing no new charges.

Not all convictions are eligible for expungement. For example, in many states defendants cannot expunge felony convictions or convictions involving sex offenses. Juvenile and misdemeanor convictions are most often subject to expungement.

A defendant acquitted of a criminal charge may be able to have the records of the arrest and charge sealed immediately.

In order to have your record expunged, it is necessary to bring a formal motion or petition with the Superior Court in the county in which your conviction was entered. The motion must be accompanied by a declaration from you stating that all of the operative terms of the relevant expungement or rehabilitation statute have been met.

Additionally, a proposed order for the court must also be prepared in the proper format.

After the necessary documents are prepared, the motion must then be filed with the court clerk. The clerk then sets a date for the hearing of the motion. A copy of the motion must also be legally served on the district attorney for that same county, and often on the probation office as well.

At the hearing, the judge will consider the facts and circumstances and make his or her decision as to whether or not you qualify for expungement, or for a certification of rehabilitation (felony cases). Assuming you meet the qualifications of the statute, the law mandates that the judge must grant your motion.

Depending upon which county the motion is filed in, this process may take anywhere between 25-60 days.