Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

Re: Expungement

A Pardon is extremely rare, costly and time consuming process intended to set aside convictions that were a 'travesty of justice'. I'm told this Governor has not issued a single pardon.

Expungment is a reasonably simple motion process of clearing your record so you get to say 'no' to conviction on most private employment applications. You may be able to get one IF no prison time was sentenced, no sexual assault or DV crime conviction, and you've successfully completed all terms of probation. Feel free to contact me if serious about doing so.

Re: Expungement

Certain convictions may be expunged. However, certain convictions may not. The only way to clear your record of those charges that you cannot expunge is by getting a pardon, which is extremely rare.

I know the San Diego Courts website has forms that explain what is eligible for expungements.

www.sdcourts.ca.gov . Go to the criminal page and on the left side of the page you will see a "FORMS" tab. click that and you should see the information you need.

If you need any further assistance please feel free to contact me. Best of luck.

Re: Expungement

There is a difference. An expungement usually refers to relief under Penal Code Section 1203.4, by which after conviction you can ask to withdraw your guilty plea, the conviction is vacated and the case dismissed. That allows you to answer truthfully on job applications that you were never convicted or arrested of that offense.

However, the record remains in the police and court files and anyone checking on you will find it, along with the 1203.4 order, so it is of limited use.

A pardon is a grant of executive clemency by the Governor which relieves the person of any legal penalties stemming from the offense. However, it does not prove the person innocent in most cases. It is usually a "mercy" action, unless specifically granted on grounds of innocence. The arrest record will still not be destroyed.

To answer your question as to which is the best? The answer is NEITHER. The best relief is a grant of a petition for factual innocence under P.C. Sec. 851.8, which is not available to anyone who was convicted, but when granted will result in the arrest and court records being sealed for three years and then physically destroyed. It is the best relief possible for an innocent person who got arrested.

For further information on expungements and factual innocence, you can see these links:

http://lawyer-expungement.com/record.htm

http://lawyer-expungement.com/petition.htm

I hope this helps.