Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

Case dismissed

In July 2002 I was let go from my job due to an investigation on grand theft by credit card and forgery for $600. In June 2003 a warrant was issued for my arrest (I knew nothing about this). In June 2005 the police came to my grandmothers home and wanted me to contact them (didn't live there). I did and they informed me of this warrant. I went to court and the judge said since the arresting officer did not look for me within 1 year and no paperwork was in the file to prove that he did anything to find me that the case was dismissed.

Do I need to expunge anything????

I was never arrested or anything??? I just showed up in court.


Asked on 7/08/05, 2:50 pm

3 Answers from Attorneys
Edward Hoffman Law Offices of Edward A. Hoffman

Re: Case dismissed

Since your case was dismissed, you were not convicted and there is thus no conviction to expunge. The fact that the warrant was issued may be on your record, but theoretically only law enforcement will have access to this information. Besides, the information is accurate and there is thus no need to correct it. Issuance of a warrant does not imply guilt, so there should be no adverse impact from having this information on file.

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Answered on 7/11/05, 11:04 pm
Michael Stone Law Offices of Michael B. Stone Toll Free 1-855-USE-MIKE

Re: Case dismissed

Sounds like your lucky day. The best way to find out if this non-incident made its way into someone's computer is to run a criminal background check on yourself. There are lots of companies on the internet that will do this for you. If you discover there is something there, you would need to file a motion for a declaration of factual innocence, something that would probably require you to get a lawyer.

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Answered on 7/08/05, 3:01 pm
Lyle Johnson Bedi and Johnson Attorneys at Law

Re: Case dismissed

I have never used an on line service to check an individuals criminal history. However, I had a client that checked his criminal history that way and several convictions were not listed. However, the California department of Justice had a record of those convictions. Check with the local sheriff's department or the California deparment of justice for the best result.

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Answered on 7/08/05, 8:04 pm


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