Expungement Of Felony - 12-18 Months From Now

CA: hello, I was recently convicted and sentenced (February 2009) on a domestic violence charge from late 2008. I was sentenced to 37 days house arrest, 90 days alcohol monitoring bracelet, 52 weeks anger management classes, 52 weeks AA, fines and restitution. I was convicted on PC 273.5 (a) and am on probation for 3 years (first year formal, last two years informal).

As part of my plea bargain, the DA agreed to reduce the felony conviction to a misdemeanor after completion of my 52 weeks AM and AA courses. My attorney also told me at time (maybe 6 months afterwards) he can file for early termination of probation and also get this incident expunged from my record. I did not use a public defender and hired private counsel.

I also lost my job during this process and am having a hard time getting any interviews. I am a professional with 12 years sales and marketing experience so I can't tell if this is due to the economy the way it is or if once I check the felon box on the applications I am being excluded from consideration.

My questions are:

- will this incident truly be expunged off my record? I have no priors and a clean record overall, just traffic tickets, and the thought of it haunting me forever is scary.

- is there a way to avoid disclosing I am a felon on applications, or is it even possible?

Thanks in advance!

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- will this incident truly be expunged off my record? I have no priors and a clean record overall, just traffic tickets, and the thought of it haunting me forever is scary.

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If the petition is granted, yes.

There is no guarantee, mind, that you will be granted early termination or expungement - all your lawyer can do is ask. But with a previously shiny record, your chances would seem to be pretty good.

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- is there a way to avoid disclosing I am a felon on applications, or is it even possible?

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For now, if you're asked, you must answer truthfully. If you lie, get hired, and the employer finds out that you lied, that's grounds for immediate termination.

If you're granted an expungement, you'll be able to answer No to the felony question.

you can file for the expungement 1 year after your probation ends.

Thanks for your help - much appreciated.

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Quoting LawResearcherMissy

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If the petition is granted, yes.

There is no guarantee, mind, that you will be granted early termination or expungement - all your lawyer can do is ask. But with a previously shiny record, your chances would seem to be pretty good.

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This is the only criminal offense on my record, and there were some extenuating circumstances that I felt needed to be considered (basically an alcoholic ex-GF who made the homelife rough the last few months, hit me many times before to which I did not respond physically and also included insulting my almost 3 year old daughter), but in a county that cracks down on DV quite a bit it fell on deaf ears.

Or maybe it didn't, I don't know - I find myself fortunate that this will be reduced to a misdemeanor around February 2010. It could have been worse but I take full responsibility for my actions and am happy to be moving forward and paying my debt to society.

Just happy to have her out of my life and if I can get this expunged that would be great news.

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For now, if you're asked, you must answer truthfully. If you lie, get hired, and the employer finds out that you lied, that's grounds for immediate termination.

If you're granted an expungement, you'll be able to answer No to the felony question.

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I figured that would be the case, and I have not lied on any applications.

It sure is an eye opener though when you have to check "yes" in that box; never in a million years did I imagine someday I would have to do that.

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Quoting DonnyC

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you can file for the expungement 1 year after your probation ends.

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OK, now I am confused.

My full probation terms are 3 years with the first year being formal (probation officer, whom I met last week for the first time) and then after the felony is reduced to the misdemeanor after completion of my 52 week AM and AA classes, my probation converts to informal probation such as a DUI.

What I am reading into your statement means either 2 years from now (1 year after the felony probation converts to informal probation) or 4 years from now (completed 3 years probation) this incident can be expunged. I may be missing something but I don't get it because it doesn't add up to the timeline my attorney laid out to me as part of the plea deal.

And if the latter is true, why would my attorney specifically state February 2010 to file for early termination and expungement (if granted)?

Thanks again, you guys have been great.

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OK, now I am confused.

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Donny is kinda new. You listen to your lawyer - he's the one who knows what's going on with your case.

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It sure is an eye opener though when you have to check "yes" in that box; never in a million years did I imagine someday I would have to do that.

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You and a whole lot of other people. But...you're owning the situation instead of screeching around here that it's all BS and not fair. You're taking responsibility, which strikes me as awfully rare.

In the end, you're going to be OK. Good luck to you.

Expungement law says 1 year from the termination. I may be new but I think I can read....ok well sometimes i can read...:wallbang:

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Quoting LawResearcherMissy

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Donny is kinda new. You listen to your lawyer - he's the one who knows what's going on with your case.

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That's what I will do but Donny tried to help. I can appreciate that.

And you better believe I'll listen to my attorney, I paid him big bucks! :)

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You and a whole lot of other people. But...you're owning the situation instead of screeching around here that it's all BS and not fair. You're taking responsibility, which strikes me as awfully rare.

In the end, you're going to be OK. Good luck to you.

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Thanks - I do consider myself rare. Good guy, good heart but made a big mistake. It didn't define me, it told me who I wasn't. I'm a big believer that in life, we pay as we go. This is my bill.

I will say I was pushed to that point the previous 12-18 months prior to this event, but regardless I chose to react. I could have also walked away and chose to deal with it at another time when I wasn't fuming, not to mention both of us were inebriated and I reached my breaking point when she said some things about my daughter. But I didn't and here we are so it's all on me. I'm a little embarassed as I'll be 35 next year - I'm a little too old to be being involved with stuff like this.

It really hasn't been too bad though - today is 35 days on the alcohol bracelet and tomorrow will be 7 days on the house arrest bracelet. I re-enrolled in college in November too as a Junior and school has kept me busy as well as my daughter. I just want to get this done as quickly and as best as I can and move on.

One more quick question: even after expungement if granted, will this show up on my record?

Also, there is a no-contact order that she was granted. I don't know how she got it granted because all I did was ask for my property back about 3-4 times over the course of about 4 months. I never once was derogatory, mean spirited, threatening or rude; I just wanted my property back and everything is doumented in emails and text. I never even got a chance to present my side of the story and my attorney told me to just let it go through because it wasn't worth it.

Of course, I never got my belongings even after being told by her I was going to, but I am assuming based on the fact that I was the defendant as well as potential liability in case something happened were it not granted the courts pulled a CYA.

The order says it is valid through the terms of my probation. If early termination is granted, does that mean the order is lifted as well?

Again, something I don't want appearing on my records in the future.

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Quoting DonnyC

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Expungement law says 1 year from the termination. I may be new but I think I can read....ok well sometimes i can read...:wallbang:

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You tried, and that's all anyone can ask.

I appreciate it.

Good thing Missy is here. :D

What shows up on the background checks after an expungement depends on the job, and whos investigating. If your going into law enforcement be prepared to discuss it and let them know the information up front cause they will be able to see it anyway.

When you fill out that application and see the question " Have you ever been convicted of a felony? and you get to check No just keep that feeling in mind.

Good luck with the expungement hope everything turns out.