Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

If you were convicted of a misdemeanor, were not granted probation and one year has passed, then you are eligible for dismissal under Penal Code 1203.4a. The clerk of the court should have a packet available with full instructions. The actual documents you need to file are available from www.courtinfo.ca.gov.

You will have to serve the District Attorney with a copy of the petition and the clerk will set a hearing date.

If you were convicted of an infraction, it cannot be dismissed. If you had been granted probation, you would have to wait until probation was over (or ask the judge to terminate it early) and move to have it dismissed under Penal Code 1203.4 (without the "a").

Since you have not committed any new offenses, the hearing is pretty much a rubber stamp. The judge will ask the DA if they have any information that you have committed any new crimes; since there won't be any, the judge will congratulate you and sign the order.

Many convictions can be 'expunged' by proper application and Motion to the court, but only if there was no prison time served or even sentenced, if it was not for certain sex and DV crimes, if you completed and finished all terms of probation, and if you have no new charges pending. If successful, the conviction would be retroactively withdrawn and the charges dismissed. That does not 'remove' the conviction, but merely changes the record to show 'conviction reversed and dismissed by expungement'. If expunged, you would be able to say 'no' to conviction on most employment applications. If you�re serious about doing so, and you think you qualify, feel free to contact me for the legal help you'll need.