Legal Question in Criminal Law in Michigan

Re: expungment

Michigan has a statute (MCL 769.4a) that allows the court to put a person on probation in a Domestic Violence assault case, with the authority to dismiss the charge at the end of successfully completing the probation terms. The prosecutor and victim have to be ok with this, too.

Other than that statute, the only way I am aware of an "instant expungment" situation would be if this case fell under the conditions of the Holmes Youthful Trainee Act (HYTA), where the defendant is 17-20 years old, and it's a first offense. Like the procedure in MCL 769.4a, the HYTA statute gives the judge the power to dismiss a case upon successful completion of probation.

Other than those two statutes, there are no "instant expungments". You have to qualify for expungment ("setting aside a conviction") according to the expungment statutes. The high points are that you can have one and only one criminal (misdemeanor or felony) conviction on your record, and you have to wait 5 years after you are off probation / out of jail to file your petition with the court of conviction to seek expungment. It is a good idea to hire an attorney to help you because if you do not follow all the procedures and timelines in the statutes, you will not preail.

Re: expungment

You need to clear this up with the prosecutor (or, better yet, your attorney). Expungement can be automatic, but you might have to petition the court for a hearing.

If you don't have counsel and have questions, ask to have counsel appointed, if you can't afford one.

The whole point of probation is to give you the chance to prove this is a fluke, not something serious. That's why usually expungement isn't logically a possibility until after probation.