Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

There is no way to get a judgment "voided". Some judgments are void already even though nobody has noticed; a lawyer may be able to have a court declare that particular judgment void. But void judgments are quite rare. They usually involve cases where the court did not have jurisdiction over the defendant and/or over the subject matter -- neither of which happens very often, and both of which are usually noticed when they do.

If your judgments are very recent you may be able to attack them in the trial court via a motion for new trial, for judgment notwithstanding the verdict, etc. There are various ways to do this, but they only succeed when the court agrees that there was a serious error in the trial and/or the plea. You haven't told us anything about your cases, so I have no idea whether such an error occurred.

There may also still be time to appeal your judgments. But appeals also only succeed where there was a serious error in the trial court.

You might also be able to seek a writ of habeas corpus and/or a writ of error coram nobis. These writs can be granted for a variety of reasons, all of which involve showing that the judgment either was obtained via an error or is a serious injustice.

You may be eligible to have your state judgments expunged, but that will depend upon what crimes you were convicted of, what sentence you received and whether you successfully completed the terms of your probation. There is no expungement in the federal court system, so this option is not available for federal convictions.

Another option is to ask the governor to pardon you for your state crimes and the president to pardon you for your federal crimes. Many people try to get pardons and few succeed. You would have to show a compelling reason why you should be pardoned.

Finally, if you have not completed your sentences yet (including probation), you can ask the governor and/or the president to commute them. Commutation would leave the judgments intact but release you from the remainder of your sentences. This process is similar to the one for getting a pardon, but commutations are somewhat easier to get.

Of course, the fact that these options are available does not mean any of them will succeed in your case. If I knew more about your convictions (especially when the judgments were entered) and had other important facts, I might be able to rule some of them out right away. I may also be able to give you a sense of your chances, which probably won't be very good in any of these approaches.

Feel free to contact me directly if you want to discuss your options. I have many years of relevant experience and am a certified by the State Bar of California's Board of Legal Specialization as a specialist in appellate practice -- which includes writ practice. Fewer than 300 of California's 200,000-plus attorneys have this certification, and many of them don't handle criminal cases. I should be able to help you understand how some or all of these options might work for you.