Thank you for the reply.
What exactly is a deferred or delayed sentence?
Does it prevent the conviction from appearing on your criminal record / background history?
Thank you for the reply.
What exactly is a deferred or delayed sentence?
Does it prevent the conviction from appearing on your criminal record / background history?
It’s where you plead guilty (with the deal in place). You get assigned probation and anything else the court feels like tossing at you. Once you complete the obligations imposed the charges are dismissed. Offhand I don’t know how it shows up on your criminal records history at any level.
In my jurisdiction there is no plea change from not guilty, and the decision whether to offer diversion is policy driven, not by the whim of the prosecutor. If you have no criminal record and you commit a misdemeanor you get a shot at diversion. In my jurisdiction it would be 6 months of supervision (monthly reporting), about $400 in financial impact, taking a retail theft class, and performing 32 hours of community service. Do that and then the charge is dismissed with no criminal conviction record. There would remain an arrest record, of course, unless you can get that expunged.
There is wide variation between jurisdictions even within a particular state, and certainly from state to state. You lawyer can explain the common practice in your jurisdiction.