Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

If you did not do actual state prison time it is probably a misdemeanor. Whether it will prevent you from becoming a notary depends on the underlying offense to which you were an accessory. You would be wise to attempt to have the offense "expunged" under PC 1203.4 even though this would be irrelevant to your notary application.

Penal Code section 32 can be charged as either a felony or a misdemeanor. If it was charged as a felony, but you did not do prison time, you may be able to file a motion to have it reduced to a misdemeanor. You can then file a petition to have it expunged.

I suggest you start by reading the information on this page:

http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/selfhelp/other/crimlawclean.htm

Without knowing the actual details of the plea, no one can be sure. Plus, our opinion is not the determining one.

The general rule is: Records are forever, and they affect employment. However, you can consider getting the conviction expunged; it would help in obtaining and keeping employment. Many felony, misdemeanor and infraction convictions can sometimes be 'expunged' from criminal records by proper application and Petition to the court, but only if there was no felony prison time sentenced whether served or not, and if it was not for certain listed Sexual and Domestic Violence crimes , and if all terms of sentencing and at least one year of probation are completed, and if there are no new charges pending. If successful, the conviction would be retroactively reduced to a misdemeanor, if necessary, and then withdrawn and the charges dismissed. Expungement does not �clear�, 'remove' or �erase� the conviction, but merely changes the record to show 'conviction reversed and dismissed by expungement'. When applying for a job in the private sector, you generally do not have to disclose a conviction if it was expunged. However, the conviction is still a 'prior' or 'strike' for purposes of repeat offense, and must be disclosed on any application for government and professional employment and licensing, bonding, security clearance, etc. The licensing agency and employer then can decide whether you are barred from licensing or employment because of the conviction. If you�re serious about doing this, and you think you qualify under those rules, feel free to contact me for the legal help you'll need.