How Do I Answer Job Application Questions About Convictions

**madmaxx** · 02-09-2010, 02:05 PM

My question involves a background check in the State of: Illinois

Hello, I'm 21 years old and currently attending a university.

My story goes like this:

I was charged with drug paraphanelia, and plead guilty to it receiving an 18 month court supervision with a big fine. Paying the fine is no problem but my question concerns the actual charge. I've done a little research on what court supervision means, and I'm gonna quote part of what WikiAnswers has to say:

"In order to receive a sentence of court supervision, you must first offer to plead guilty in court to whatever offense has been charged. If the judge believes that a sentence of court supervision is appropriate, he or she takes the guilty plea under advisement, and does not enter it as a conviction at that time. Instead, you are then placed on a period of court supervision, usually lasting three to twenty-four months."

The part that confuses me the most is when it's saying "not enter it as a conviction at that time." But then doesn't the term conviction mean plead guilty to? So doesn't that mean I have been convicted of a crime?

And so my question is: If an application says, "Have you ever been convicted of any crimes?" I mean to me it says have i ever been found guilty of a crime, which I have been but then again according to WikiAnwers, it's not entered as a conviction so how will this work when jobs do a background check on me? Do I say yes then, since I have been found guilty of drug paraphanelia ( sorry for incorrect spelling). I should mention that I received a class A misdemeanor if that means anything. Or whichever letter the worst one is.

So all in all, I'm under court supervision for 18 months but not convicted of it? Am I understanding this right? I wish I understood law like the back of my hand

.

Just in general though, would this charge have a big impact on me getting jobs? I made a damn mistake in my life and I shouldn't have problems like this. I'm getting straight A's in school and majoring in Computer Science, this is so aggravating for me.

Thanks for any help that I can receive.

**LawResearcherMissy** · 02-09-2010, 03:46 PM

You have not yet been convicted. So the answer to the question of "Have you ever been convicted?" is No.

If you fail to meet the terms of your supervision - say, get busted with weed or completely lose your mind and go rob a bank - the supervision will be revoked and a conviction will be entered. Then you get to serve the terms of whatever your sentence would have been prior to being offered court supervision.

If you meet the terms of your supervision, the charge is dismissed.

Lectric Law Library does a nice job of explaining court supervision here.

**madmaxx** · 02-10-2010, 06:57 AM

Alright, finally I understand and thanks so much for clearing things up for me. So now I just have to be clean which I have been since the court date. Thanks again!!!

**controlvoice** · 02-27-2010, 11:23 PM

If what is being discussed here is a "deferred sentence", then I must beg to differ. In 1989 I recieved a one year "deferred sentence" for a Gross Misdemeanor in Washington state. I pleaded guilty, paid fines and restitution, and was under court "supervision" for one year. My attorney told me that I "would not have a criminal record", that the record would show only that I was arrested and charged, but never convicted. And, for almost twenty years, I believed that. Then, to my astonishment, I recently discovered that I did indeed have a "rap sheet" listed on the Washington State Patrol's website. It said GUILTY, it did not say that the CASE had been dismissed, but rather that the SENTENCE had been dismissed, in other words, I did not go to jail, neither was I put on probation. But it clearly stated that a deferred sentence is considered ADVERSE TO THE DEFENDANT, the same as a "regular" conviction. You get a criminal record for it, and it wll stay with you unless you get it expunged. I recently had my deferred sentence vacated, which in Washington state means "expunged", and the court order signed by the judge stated that "The CONVICTION in this matter is vacated". So, it "wasn't" a conviction when it happened, but somehow it "became" a conviction when it was vacated! When my attorney told me in 1989 that "I would not have a criminal record", that was a BALD FACED LIE, and he knew it! That is one of the classic lies that attorneys tell frightened and desperate clients who want to believe that somehow, magically, they will not have a criminal record even though they pleaded guilty. I believed that lie, and lots of other people have also. Again, I don't know exactly what the law is in your state, but if what you got was a "deferred sentence", and if your state defines that the same way Washington does, then you can be assured that you DO indeed have a criminal record! Common sense will tell any thinking person that if you plead guilty, YOU ARE GUILTY and you have CONVICTED YOURSELF! All they're doing after that is giving you a little "break" for convicting youself instead of making the court convict you! If I were you, and I speak from experience, I would not put all of this behind you just yet. Better do some investigating on your own, because all the "straight A's" in the world will not make a criminal record go away. And don't believe what attorneys, or anyone else claiming to have "legal knowledge" tell you! It's been my long experience that they only tell you what they want you to believe, or think you will believe, if it suits their "agenda". Think attorneys don't have an agenda when they bestow their advice on a criminal? I assure you, they do.