Expunge Your DUI

Expungement of DUI Cases

If you have already been convicted of a DUI, you may become eligible for an expungement of your DUI conviction under California Penal Code Section 1203.4. An expungement results in a dismissal of your case. If you are granted an expungement, the court will set aside and dismiss the conviction. Specifically, the court will withdraw your guilty or no contest plea, or guilty verdict if you went to trial, and grant a not guilty plea.

Why should you apply for an expungement of your DUI?

There are several personal and professional reasons why someone would want to apply for an expungement. An expungement is not automatically granted, and will not be granted in the event that you have broken any law since you received your DUI conviction, so the fact that your conviction is set aside proves to you and others that you have learned from your experience and have lived a law-abiding life since your conviction.

On a professional level, you can truthfully tell private employers that you have not been convicted of a crime. What’s more, California Labor Code §432.7 prevents employers from asking about any arrest that didn’t result in a conviction, inquiring about it from other sources or use it in a hiring decision.  Note that if you ever apply for a job with a public entity, or for a professional license, when asked if you were ever convicted of a crime, you will have to report “Yes, and my conviction was dismissed.” Again, the fact that your conviction was set aside will definitely reflect more favorably on your character and indicates that you have fulfilled the requirements necessary to have your conviction set aside.

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Additionally, most Licensing and Certification agencies in California will not grant a license to someone who has been convicted of a crime. The same is true for Governmental jobs. However, if your conviction has been expunged, most Governmental licensing and hiring agencies (except police agencies) are required to treat you the same as if you were never convicted of the crime.

What An Expungement Can Do For You 

An expungement will reflect that your conviction has been set aside. An expunged record cannot be used by private employers as a basis to deny you employment. Also, in the State of California, Government Employers (except for the police) and Licensing Agencies such as the Department of Real Estate, Board of Nursing, etc., will treat you the same as if you have never been convicted of a crime if your record has been expunged.

What An Expungement CANNOT Do For You

An expunged record can still be reviewed by a judge for the purposes of increasing your sentence if you are ever convicted of another crime in the future.  Also, an expungement does not wipe out your criminal record. Your criminal court file will not be physically destroyed, and is therefore searchable and is often discovered by private investigators and others who perform background checks. If your criminal court file is discovered, it will show that your conviction was set aside by the court. Accordingly, the Judicial Counsel of California advises that if you are asked by a private employer if you were convicted of a crime, you should answer “Yes, and the conviction was dismissed.” In the case of public employers and licensing agencies, you are required to answer that you have been convicted of a crime and that your conviction has been dismissed. Additionally, an expungement will not automatically grant you the ability to possess a firearm, nor will it restore any driving privileges that were revoked by the DMV due to the conviction.

When Can You Apply For An Expungement?

If you have been convicted of a misdemeanor DUI in a California state court (a 1st, 2nd or 3rd DUI with no accidents or injuries involved), and were not sentenced to prison, you are eligible to apply for an expungement at the end of your probation term.  If your probation term has not ended but you have fulfilled all other terms of your probation (such as CalTrans, community service, payment of fines) your lawyer may apply for early termination probation. Once early termination of probation is granted, you will be eligible to also apply for an expungement.

If you have been convicted of a Felony DUI in California, you would first need to petition the court to reduce the felony to a misdemeanor. So long as you were not sentenced to prison, and your Felony is reduced to a misdemeanor, you will be eligible to apply for an expungement.

If you served time in State Prison or otherwise were under the care of the Department of Corrections, you will not be eligible for an expungement, but may be eligible for a Certificate of Rehabilitation from the California Board of Prisons.

Originally published here.

A San Diego California DUI / Drunk Driving conviction or record is considered a criminal offense and as such is a part of your criminal history. A San Diego California DUI / Drunk Driving under California Vehicle Code Section 23152 is considered a misdemeanor offense whereas felony San Diego California DUI / Drunk Driving offenses under California Vehicle Code Section 23153 involve property damage, injury/death, and/or multiple offenses.

Check with a San Diego California DUI / Drunk Driving attorney to verify. A San Diego California DUI / Drunk Driving misdemeanor conviction is eligible for expungement under California Penal Code Section 1203.4.

The benefits of clearing your San Diego California DUI / Drunk Driving record can mean many things, including expanded employment opportunities by being able to answer “no” on job applications if and when the employer or application asks if you’ve ever been convicted of a criminal offense.

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By clearing the record you’ll be eligible for jobs that would otherwise exclude you based solely on the San Diego California DUI / Drunk Driving record as well as professional licenses and other civic liberties.

San Diego California DUI / Drunk Driving Expungement

After a San Diego California DUI / Drunk Driving conviction, one of the best remedies to seek is what’s known as a 1203.4 expungement which is a legal practice that can clear your San Diego California DUI / Drunk Driving record. The San Diego California DUI / Drunk Driving expungement gets the initial San Diego California DUI / Drunk Driving charges dismissed and the case dropped under specific terms described in the San Diego California DUI / Drunk Driving expungement order. The San Diego California DUI / Drunk Driving expungement can be handled by a San Diego California DUI Lawyer. Here’s how the San Diego California DUI / Drunk Driving charges can be dropped.

Originally published here.

Tennessee is one of the more difficult states in which to expunge your criminal record. Unfortunately for those convicted of a crime, there are only limited instances where you can get a Tennessee expungment of your criminal record. The laws and regulations governing Tennessee expungements are identical for all classes of convictions, whether felony or misdemeanor.

Expunging your criminal record in Tennessee is difficult but certainly not impossible. There are a variety of situations where erasing your criminal record and expunging damaging information can legally occur. Dismissed charges can always be expunged in Tennessee. A criminal expungement attorney can do a records search for you to find the dismissed charges against you, the relevant indictment or warrant numbers, and the name under which you were charged (to avoid problems by perhaps missing aliases in the criminal database). Once a complete search is completed, an expungement attorney will then able to draft the required order and submit it to the court clerk in the county where you were convicted or charged. The request is then sent to the district attorney’s office to determine whether there is any state opposition to the expungement.

Post-trial and pre-trial diversion agreements also allow you to expunge a guilty plea. Keep in mind, however, that one can only apply for an expungement once all requirements of diversion have been met. Tennessee law allows counties to collect a court fee for expunging records. This can be in addition to any court costs that may still be owed on your case. Criminal charges and convictions can negatively affect you in the future if they are not fully expunged, even if they are part of a diversion agreement, or a plea under advisement. It is vital that you retain an expungement attorney who does a complete criminal record search to make sure all charges that can be erased from your record are expunged. A good expungement attorney conducts an exhaustive record search with your complete name, date of birth, and any aliases you may have used so that every charge against you that can be expunged is completely removed. It does you little good to miss an expungeable charge and end up with a partial expungement that will still show up on background checks.

It is important that you start the process as soon as possible. Obtaining an expungement can sometimes take months to complete depending on the county where you were charged. This makes it vital to retain an attorney fluent in the criminal system to ensure that your expungement is handled correctly the first time. It is important to make sure your record is fully expunged before you seek a new job or apply to college or a technical school. The process for obtaining an expunement is the same no matter the seriousness of the charge. A knowledgeable criminal lawyer familiar with the Tennessee expungement process is definitely your best bet. Though not easy, a Tennessee expungement is not impossible to obtain. After the expungement process is complete, state law ensures that no physical evidence of your conviction or charge remains. Expert counsel and a committed effort are necessary make sure your record is clean. Getting an expungement in Tennessee can be a trying process. Good counsel is your best bet.

Originally published here.