Felony Conviction Record for a Charge I Thought Was Reduced to a Misdemeanor

My question involves civil rights in the State of: New Hampshire. I believe this would be a case of civil rights. If not then someone please tell me what it would fall under and I will post it to the appropriate forum.

I will just start by saying that I was arrested when I was 18 for Grand Theft Auto, which was reduced to a misdemeanor for Joy Riding because I had the keys to the car.

I am 43 years old now. I just found out that I have a felony on my record for Grand Theft Auto and there is no mention of it being reduced to a misdemeanor. So for 25 years now, I have been rejected for several jobs and had no clue why. One job was for the 911 service making 18 dollars an hour. It would have the highest paying job I have ever had. I have fantastic with computers and have a great personality, I have worked at several call centers and enjoy it. Yet when I tried to move on to better call centers, like the 911 job, I have been turned away. knowing that my skills are much more impressive than some of those other applicants that I met in the testing process. Oh and not to mention, getting turned down by the army in 1998.

I can't prove much of this, except for the army, but I would like to know if there is a case to sue someone for not filing this issue correctly. For 25 years I have been clueless to the fact that there are people out there, they may have been looking at me like I was an ex felon. There has to be some thing that I can do. If not at least get my record fixed.

Thank you for taking the time to read my post.
John L. Bush

Why did it take 25 YEARS to research your record if you were being denied jobs because of it for all that time? When the army turned you down in 1998, why weren't you all over this THEN?

And, for the 911 job in particular, law enforcement would have known that the original charge was felony theft, even if it was later reduced (and they'd have evaluated it for your job suitability appropriately).

You can seek the court records from your case, if they still exist, to try to figure out what happened.

You have no legal case for money damages. If in fact your charge was reduced, you can have the court correct the abstract of judgment with the state.

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Quoting aardvarc

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Why did it take 25 YEARS to research your record if you were being denied jobs because of it for all that time? When the army turned you down in 1998, why weren't you all over this THEN?

And, for the 911 job in particular, law enforcement would have known that the original charge was felony theft, even if it was later reduced (and they'd have evaluated it for your job suitability appropriately).

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Are you here to help or just to be condescending?
I put the fact that I was denied jobs because of this issue together after finding out that this felony is on my record by a police officer. And why would I research my own record if I know I have no reason too? I am not a criminal. And now that I find out that I have been treated like one for all these years, I am insulted and enraged. I can also feel your simple post as insulting and I don't appreciate it at all. I did not come to this site, looking for someone to tell me what I should or shouldn't have done. I was told about the felony by the army but explained to my recruiter that it was dropped. He said he would do what he could do. How was I to know that the record does not state that it was dropped to a lesser charge.

The fact of who didn't hire me for what reason or not, doesn't matter. I still have a felony conviction on my record that should not be there. And it should not have been there at all my whole life so far. I can't go back to when I was 18 and make sure they enter the paper work correctly so that I don't go through life as a felon, and not even know about it. But I would like it fixed and if possible sue the state for this humongous mistake.

So I am appealing to lawyers that would like to take a case like this or to someone who can advise and point me in the right direction. Not someone who is going to pick apart my issue and leave me with a bad taste in my mouth. I would like positive results from those who can would like to help. Please.

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Quoting Mr. Knowitall

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You can seek the court records from your case, if they still exist, to try to figure out what happened.

You have no legal case for money damages. If in fact your charge was reduced, you can have the court correct the abstract of judgment with the state.

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Are you certain there is no case for money damages? I mean I have been living my life for the past 25 years as a felon, and I had no clue. I could have had a better life for my children, due to jobs that I may have gotten. And not to mention the fact that I every incident I had with a police officer was tainted and I had no clue why they were treating me like I was a criminal. And now I know why.

Assuming that the mistake is not one of your belief, and your conviction was ordered reduced, you have two big problems that will preclude any money damages claim: The statute of limitations, which will have run many years ago, and governmental immunity.

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Quoting Mr. Knowitall

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Assuming that the mistake is not one of your belief, and your conviction was ordered reduced, you have two big problems that will preclude any money damages claim: The statute of limitations, which will have run many years ago, and governmental immunity.

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I think governmental immunity is the real protection as the statute of limitations may have run on much of the damages, defamation may have been considered republished each time someone accessed the record.

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Quoting aardvarc

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Why did it take 25 YEARS to research your record if you were being denied jobs because of it for all that time? When the army turned you down in 1998, why weren't you all over this THEN?

And, for the 911 job in particular, law enforcement would have known that the original charge was felony theft, even if it was later reduced (and they'd have evaluated it for your job suitability appropriately).

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I didn't research it. I was told by a police officer that this was on my record. And no the 911 job would only see the same thing the police officer that told me about it say. That it was a GTA Felony charge. I told me it doesn't say a thing about being reduced.

Thanks but no thanks for your help.

Did you have another question?

Or would you prefer to just...vent?

It shows a GTA F charge or conviction? If it's showing the charge, it is accurate as that is what you were charged with.

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Quoting Welfarelvr

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I think governmental immunity is the real protection as the statute of limitations may have run on much of the damages, defamation may have been considered republished each time someone accessed the record.

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The conviction was abstracted by the court to the state a quarter century ago. That happened only once.

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Quoting JohnBush

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I didn't research it. I was told by a police officer that this was on my record.

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Nobody is disputing that there is a felony on your record.

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Quoting JohnBush

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I told me it doesn't say a thing about being reduced.

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Talking to yourself won't help.

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Quoting JohnBush

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Thanks but no thanks for your help.

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Proving yourself to be an immature twit will do all of nothing to get this issue resolved. Again, you need to start by finding out what actually happened. The mistake may be entirely on your part.

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Quoting Mr. Knowitall

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The conviction was abstracted by the court to the state a quarter century ago. That happened only once.

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So, you would say there is not a republication when someone accesses the database? Single publication rule? This seems different from when it usually applies.

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Quoting Welfarelvr

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So, you would say there is not a republication when someone accesses the database? Single publication rule? This seems different from when it usually applies.

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Let's start with the question,

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Quoting JohnBush

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I would like to know if there is a case to sue someone for not filing this issue correctly.

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Obtaining data from the state, or from a private database, is not "filing this issue correctly". That's something that (may have) happened once, a quarter century ago.

As for the question that wasn't asked, if you are assuming that the data is coming from the state's criminal records database, yes, they'll be immune for accurately reporting its contents.

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Quoting JohnBush

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I didn't research it. I was told by a police officer that this was on my record. And no the 911 job would only see the same thing the police officer that told me about it say. That it was a GTA Felony charge. I told me it doesn't say a thing about being reduced.

Thanks but no thanks for your help.

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A felony "charge" is different than a felony "conviction". An accurate background record would show that you were charged for a felony, and that it was later reduced to a misdemeanor. Some employers care about actual charges just as much as actual convictions. Others care more about convictions. I would suspect that a 911 call center would care about charges as well as convictions...by matter of policy.

Its unfortunate for you that your teenage joyriding session ended up haunting you for the long term. If more teens and young adults understood that their actions could haunt them forever, then life would likely be better for everyone.

You could try to have your record expunged, however, unfortunately due to the internet and info that is out there all over the place, its unlikely that getting your record expunged would eliminate the information from every database out there. I honestly sympathize with you. You did something stupid at age 18 that is still haunting you at age 43. I seriously understand the frustration of that.

However, its not anybody else's fault. You WERE charged with a felony.

The police or government job might see the felony arrest and the reduction as well. Just having the felony arrest for grand theft might cause a lot of places not to hire you.