Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

A paralegal cannot "represent" you. There are different procedures depending on whether you want to "expunge" a misdemeanor or a felony, and whether or not this will accomplish your objectives.

To seal records is a costly and seldom successful project. 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 If successful, the conviction would be retroactively reduced to a misdemeanor, if necessary, and then withdrawn and the charges dismissed.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.

No, a paralegal can not 'represent' you in any court proceeding. They could help you prepare any paperwork.

I used to handle expungements while a law clerk in the Public Defender's office and a student in night law school. Certified law clerks can sometimes appear in court and argue motions, cross examine witnesses, etc., and certification is possible depending on finishing certain classes in civil procedure, etc. The law clerk has to be supervised by an attorney, however.

My impression of the "expungement" statutes in California was that they weren't particularly helpful to my "clients" in the P-D's office. As a previous answer says, nothing gets erased or deleted from the available records. They simply add to your record the fact that your conviction was "expunged." Funny use of the term, I'd say.

If interested, you can ask the Public Defender's office in the county where you were convicted if they do expungements. Most do, I believe - but it was 10+ years ago when I was there.

You might want to look at Penal Code sections 1203.4, 1203.4a and 1203.45, all dealing with expungement-related concepts including sealing of records. There are other statutes elsewhere in the Penal Code as well that deal with these topics, but "Expungement" itself does not appear in the index to the West version of the code that I use, and I can't remember the statute's number(s).

There is a misnomer of terms. Expungement refers to a procedure after conviction to turn a misdemeanor or a "wobbler" after it is reduced to a misdemeanor, from a conviction, to a dismissal pursuant to Penal Code section 1203.4.

The big benefit from getting this relief, is that in most cases, a defendant can answer "no" when asked if he or she was ever convicted of crime in an application for employment with a private employer. With respect to government employers or government licensing applications, if asked if you were ever convicted of a crime, you must answer "yes-conviction dismissed." So if you were applying to work for Target, you could answer no, but if you were applying to work for Caltrans, or get a real estate license, you would have to answer, yes-conviction dismissed. The expungement also does not erase the record, and if you get arrested and charged in the future, the prior conviction will count as a "prior."

"Sealing" refers to two separate procedures under California state law. Generally, court records are open to the public. It would appear that Mr. Nelson is referring to this process. Much of the current law and explanation of that procedure is set forth in NBC Subsidiary (KNBC-TV), Inc. v. Superior Court (1999) 20 Cal.4th 1178. That case involved a lawsuit between Clint Eastwood and Sondra Locke, in a case they wanted sealed.

The other procedure, which you may be referring to, involves sealing juvenile records. Contrary to popular belief, juvenile records are not automatically sealed. Juvenile delinquency records are available, including to employers, for life. The procedure to remedy this is for the juvenile to file a petition to seal, once he turns 18. If the court grants the petition to seal juvenile records, they will be sealed, and kept until the defendant is 38. At that point, the actual records are destroyed. This procedure, which is only available for juvenile records, is actually more advantageous to a defendant than expungement of misdemeanors and wobblers as an adult.