Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

''Not Guilty'' letter and expungement
I had been charged in 2003 for trespassing while looking for a friend's house in the dark. A year later I knew to fill out an application to have this case expunged by the court which it was and also received from them a letter stating that I now was ''Not Guilty'' . However when I had gone to the court to view my records 2 years afterward there were no papers in that file stating that I was ''Not Guilty'' nor that the case had been expunged. My question is what happens if I look for another job in the future and a prospective employer wants to see any files that I may have?. Is there a way to get the court to stick into my file those papers that say I'm not guilty and should there be any papers on this case in that file at all when the case is supposed to have been expunged? Otherwise I have never had such a problem with any such files and my record was clean.

Asked on 1/23/06, 11:09 pm

3 Answers from Attorneys

Philip Iadevaia Law Offices of Philip A. Iadevaia

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Re: ''Not Guilty'' letter and expungement

There should be an ''order'' in the court's file indicating what transpired with the expungement. Your post omits some facts regarding the disposition of the case, i.e. did you enter a plea? were the charges dropped? what happened, ultimately to the charge? Good luck.

Answered on 1/24/06, 11:36 am

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Elena Condes LAW OFFFICE OF ELENA CONDES

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Re: ''Not Guilty'' letter and expungement

I unsure as to which procedure you used. So, for both options: If you had a 1203.4 Motion granted (commonly called and expungement) your plea of "guilty" or "no contest" is withdrawn and a plea of "not guilty" is entered and the case is dismissed. There should be an order prepared by the court that is then sent to the Department of Justice so their records reflect the same thing. So, in that case, sometime the clerk's office doesn't get around to sending the order up to DOJ. In that case, you just have to remind them to do it. If you had a 1203.4 Motion granted then you no longer have a conviction. The only way someone should be able to see the conviction is if you provided fingerprints for a background check through the Department of Justice.

If you made the request to have your records sealed and destroyed under 851.8, then there should also be a Order from the court indicating as much and the records are sealed for a period of time (I believe six months) and destroyed). To have a Motion to Seal and Destroy records under section 851.8, you have to show that you were either factually innocent or that there was no probable cause to have arrested you in the first place. Same as before, if you have that Order from the court take it to the clerk's office and ask them to follow through.

Good luck,

Answered on 1/24/06, 1:32 pm

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