In the case of a deferral, where a plea is taken but never entered by the court, would one still be obliged to answering 'yes' on an employment application that asks if they have ever plead guilty to crime?
In the case of a deferral, where a plea is taken but never entered by the court, would one still be obliged to answering 'yes' on an employment application that asks if they have ever plead guilty to crime?
This comes down to what the employer will think of your answer more than anything else.
If the question is "Did you plead guilty to..." and you plead guilty to "..." then any answer other than "yes" a lie.
The real problem comes to what is actually going to show up on your record if it is checked. I've seen many applicants say it was deferred or expunged and could provide no documentation for it being so that the conviction shows up on a background check. So unless you are 100% sure that it was deferred and dismissed don't say no.
You have to first tell us what state you are in and what "disclosure" you are talking about.
This thread was partitioned from another one on this forum, apologize for the lack of detail. The state is Michigan. The deferral program is MI 7411. Upon successful completion of the program, the court dismisses and seals all court records of the case except record of the arrest. So, technically, the record should be hidden from background checks. And the disclosure I am referring to is in response to the employment question that states: "have you ever been convicted, or plead guilty or nolo contendere."
You should not hijack other people's threads.
If you enter a guilty plea when you enter your 7411 deferral, then you will have plead guilty. Otherwise, you won't have plead guilty.
First here is the law that your conviction was deferred under. http://www.legislature.mi.gov/(S(1qj...e=mcl-333-7411
This is the part that most applies to you.
Upon fulfillment of the terms and conditions, the court shall discharge the individual and dismiss the proceedings. Discharge and dismissal under this section shall be without adjudication of guilt and, except as otherwise provided by law, is not a conviction for purposes of this section or for purposes of disqualifications or disabilities imposed by law upon conviction of a crime, including the additional penalties imposed for second or subsequent convictions under section 7413. There may be only 1 discharge and dismissal under this section as to an individual.
It pretty much acts as an expungement and with the exception of applying for a law enforcement or some other state or federal job you should be OK with saying, No, to that question.
That said, the employer may not see it that way. But that same employer would probably not hire you if you answered, yes.
Thanks for clarification, and apologies for going on a tangent on the other thread.
I guess my major question was if the technicality that the court did not actually enter the guilty plea (i,e, no actual adjudication of guilt) made any difference in my having legally entered a guilty plea. Sounds like it didn't, though. I guess I can probably squeak by without mentioning it on my employment apps, professional licensing may be a different story since the state will have access to those records
7411 eligibility requires either he have pled guilty or was found guilty (so he didn't necessarily plead guilty). The dismissal ends up not being an adjudicated conviction. So he'll have to go back over the records.
I did plea guilty but the plea didn't go anywhere, since not only was there no adjudicated conviction, but there was no 'adjudication of guilt.' Hence my confusion regarding the significance of having pled guilty, if the court won't even find me guilty on basis of that plea. It may sound like I'm splitting hairs here, but this has major significance on professional licensing apps, where guilty pleas are viewed the same as convictions.
I believe you are in the same position that a person would be that pled guilty and it wasn't accepted by the court.