How To Get a Felony Expunged

A damaging criminal record is one of the severe repercussions of a criminal conviction. Even after serving your sentence, the conviction remains in your record, publicly available to anyone running a background check on you. Employers and landlords do this to determine a person’s suitability for a job or house to rent or lease. You could miss many job opportunities regardless of your qualifications because of what a potential employer has found in your criminal record.

Fortunately, the law allows you to file for expungement after serving your sentence for a felony or misdemeanor. Expungement eliminates all negative disabilities and consequences of a conviction. However, you must meet the set-down criteria to be eligible for an expungement. Speaking to a skilled criminal attorney can help you establish your eligibility and understand the process. An attorney can also help you through the complex legal process and fight with you for a successful outcome.

The Expungement Process

If you are arrested for a crime, you should do your best to fight your charges or defend your actions to avoid a conviction. This is because criminal convictions have severe, life-changing consequences. In addition to the penalties you receive during sentencing, including a prison or jail sentence and a court fine, other life-changing consequences apply. The truth is that a criminal arrest or conviction remains in your criminal record for years. This is a public record that anyone can access, including your family, colleagues, employer, the police, and insurance providers. People can determine how to treat you based on what they find in your criminal record.

The expungement process allows you to eliminate the negative consequences and disabilities of a criminal account. It entails petitioning the court to remove an arrest and conviction record from your criminal history. If you are successful, the record will not exist anymore, and anyone running a background check on you will not be able to find it. However, when vying for a government position, you could be expected to disclose the arrest or conviction upon request. You must also meet the requirements for the court to grant your petition.

Although the expungement process is complex, it is manageable. You can enjoy a more seamless and successful process with the assistance of a skilled criminal attorney. Trying to navigate the court processes alone can leave you drained, stressed, and with little or no success to show.

Skilled criminal attorneys know how to fill in the paperwork required. They also understand the processes and can use their best strategies to fight for a favorable outcome. A skilled attorney will handle everything for you and only involve you when necessary. This eliminates any stress and anxiety you could experience while trying to navigate a complex legal process.

Here are some of the steps you should take in filing for expungement for a felony conviction:

1. Hire a Skilled Criminal Attorney

Engaging an attorney is an excellent idea for a seamless and more successful process. It also eliminates any struggles you could experience handling paperwork, navigating complex court processes, and compelling the court to rule in your favor.

However, you must carefully select a skilled and experienced attorney. They must be familiar with the expungement process and state laws that can impact the process. The attorney must also be willing and ready to remain by your side throughout this process to speed the matter up. Remember that the longer the process drags on, the more you experience the negative consequences and disabilities of a criminal conviction.

Additionally, an attorney will ensure you meet the required criteria for filing for an expungement. Not all ex-convicts with a misdemeanor or felony conviction are eligible for expungement. Working with an attorney eliminates obstacles that could make obtaining the desired outcome difficult.

2. Obtain the Copies of Your Arrest and Conviction

Your criminal history contains all your arrest and conviction records. You should seek expungement for these to ensure that your criminal past does not continue to ruin your life. Thus, you must start the process by obtaining all your criminal records that anyone running a background check on you can access.

The documents you will need for this process are included in the documents you received during your conviction. Any other document you need for this process could be sent to your attorney. If you had a different attorney during your sentence, they should have handed those documents to you after the case. If not, you can request them. Your probation officer could also have some documents you will need for the case.

Your attorney should be able to obtain anything else from the superior court where the conviction occurred. Also, all the documents you need can be obtained through the office of the Attorney General. Some of these documents are available online, through the AG’s website, or the website of the State Department of Justice.

This process will cost you some money. The Department of Justice charges about $25 to avail your criminal arrest and conviction records. If you do not have the money to pay this fee, your attorney can help you apply for a waiver by demonstrating your inability to pay. If this works, receiving the documents by mail will take a few weeks.

3. Determine Your Eligibility for Expungement

Through expungement, the law allows ex-convicts to overcome the negative consequences and disabilities of a criminal conviction. However, only those who meet the set criteria can enjoy the benefits of expungement. It helps to determine your eligibility before starting the process to avoid disappointment with a denied petition. Here are some qualification criteria you must meet before beginning the process:

• You have a criminal arrest or conviction for a misdemeanor or felony.
• There is no current arrest or pending conviction for another crime
• You are not serving any sentence for a crime when petitioning the court for expungement
• Your penalties for the criminal record you wish to expunge do not include a state prison sentence
• You have served all the penalties for the conviction you want to expunge, including the probation. If you are still on probation, you can first file for an early probation termination to start the expungement process.
• You have paid all court fines, restitution, and other charges the court ordered during sentencing.
• You have met all the sentencing requirements for the crime you want to expunge, including community service or treatment for alcohol or drug addiction.
• The conviction occurred in a state or local court, not a federal one.
• If the judge sentenced you to probation, you have served more than one year since the conviction.

The judge can grant or deny your petition when you petition a court to expunge your arrest and conviction record. In some cases, judges are lenient when determining these cases and can grant your request even if you do not meet all the requirements. For example, the judge can grant your petition if you meet some of the requirements, such as the following:

• You have paid court fines and restitution; you are not facing any current charges or serving probation or jail sentence for another crime, but you did not meet all your probation requirements.
• The arrest and conviction were for a misdemeanor of prostitution or solicitation, and you have completed probation but as a victim of human trafficking.
• The conviction was for a felony offense, for which you received a jail sentence and have had two years or more since you finished your sentence.
• You are a convicted military and have a mental health condition or a mental injury or trauma from your service in the military.

Generally, California courts do not expunge felony convictions. However, you can reduce the sentence to a misdemeanor to qualify for conviction expungement. It means you must have been convicted of a felony that can also be charged as a misdemeanor to qualify for conviction expungement. Grave crimes that are only felonies, like murder and rape, cannot be expunged from your criminal record. However, a conviction for a wobbler offense can be expunged even if you were convicted of a felony since you can reduce it to a misdemeanor.

Reasons You Do Not Qualify for Expungement

Remember that even if expungement is a civil right for all ex-convicts, you do not qualify if you do not meet the required criteria. Here are some of the reasons you are not eligible for expungement:

• The conviction for which you need expungement was in a federal court and not in a local or state court
• The conviction resulted in a prison sentence and not jail or probation
• You are still serving probation for the conviction and do not qualify for an early probation termination
• You have yet to complete your sentence for the underlying conviction or are serving time for another crime
• The conviction was for a grave sex-related crime, especially a sex crime against a minor

Note: Convictions for some grave felonies under California law, mostly violent or aggravated felonies, affect eligibility for expungement. Once you express your desire to file an expungement petition to your attorney, they will advise you according to the facts of your conviction and your current criminal status.

1. Determine Your Conviction Details and Probation Status

You can only expunge one conviction record at a time. Thus, if you have several convictions, you must be specific about the one you must expunge. You cannot file one petition to expunge all the records in your criminal history. In your petition, you must include the case or docket number of the particular conviction you want to expunge, the judge’s final verdict, the plea you entered (no contest, guilty, or not guilty), and the sentencing details.

The sentence details must specify the type of sentence you received, whether probation, state prison, or county jail sentence. You should also provide details of your release, including the date and the type of release (or parole).

Additionally, the petition must contain your probation details, including the type of probation, the starting date, the length, and if you have completed it. If you have not completed your probation, you should provide evidence that you applied for an early termination, which the court granted.

The Expungement Process

Once you have prepared for expungement, the process should be straightforward, especially with the assistance of a skilled attorney.

You start by filling in all the required paperwork. Provide all the details needed in the documents and supporting documents to verify the information you provide. Ensure that the information provided is accurate and sufficient to trigger a positive response from the court.

The judge will review your petition once they receive it. They will also set a hearing date to determine your eligibility for expungement and the final verdict. You will receive notice of the hearing once the judge sets a hearing date. You must start preparing for the hearing with the help of your attorney to improve your chances of success.

An expungement hearing takes about ten minutes. Ensure you are on time to avoid inconveniencing the court. It could also work in your favor. During the hearing, the judge will consider a few factors to determine your suitability for expungement. These factors include your charges, parole status, your criminal record, if you can find and retain a job, and your performance while on probation. If the court grants your petition, the conviction will be erased permanently from your record. This means it will no longer be publicly available. If the judge denies your petition, the record will remain. However, you can appeal the matter to push for a favorable outcome.

Find a Competent Criminal Attorney Near Me

A felony conviction results in life-altering consequences that will continue to affect your life even after serving your sentence. They leave a damaging record in your criminal history that can affect your ability to find suitable employment, rent, obtain credit, or enjoy reasonable insurance rates. However, expungement can help. It is a legal process through which you petition a court to remove an arrest and conviction from your criminal history. Since it is a long and complex process, you need legal assistance to navigate it successfully.

We assist our clients through expungement processes at Long Beach Criminal Attorney. This eliminates any negative consequences and disabilities of a criminal account. We can help you determine your eligibility for expungement through the complex process. Call us at 562-308-7807 to learn how expungement works and our services.