Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

Re: Expunging One's Records

Unless it is a state or federal government job, if you had your misdemeanor conviction expunged you may truthfully omit it from your job application, and it should not come up. The matter is treated as if the arrest/conviction never occurred. Try screennow.com or knowx.com if you want to pay for a so-called 'background check' on yourself.

Re: Expunging One's Records

Hi.

In California an Expungement is normally a term loosely used for a 1203.4 Motion. If that is what happened, then your plea of "guilty" or "no contest" was withdrawn, a plea of "not guilty" was entered and your case was dismissed. There is a separate proceeding (a P.C. 851.8), a motion to seal and destroy the arrest records that gets rid of the arrest. That is very difficult to get because you have to show that there was no probable to have arrested you in the first place. If you had a 1203.4 Motion granted, you no longer have a conviction. And a search of records at the courthouse will not show your conviction. If you are trying to obtain employment where you will be around children, or work for the government or run for public office your fingerprints are forwarded to the Department of Justice and a printout of your criminal history will show the conviction which was later removed.

You can find out what your criminal history shows by requesting a printout from the California Department of Justice, Criminal Division. They have a website which will lead you to a phone number to call to request the form. You will receive a fingerprint card and letter of instruction. The process usually takes about 30 days.

I don't know how they look it up.

Good luck,

Elena Condes