Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

This office files petitions for expungement and also prepares petitions for clients who wish to represent themselves. It requires a filing and an appearance. Contact me directly for fees.

Many convictions can sometimes be 'expunged' by proper application and Motion to the court, but only if there was no prison time served or even sentenced, if it was not for certain sex and Domestic Violence crimes [yours??], if all terms of probation [or at least one year] are completed and finished, and if there are no new charges pending. If successful, the conviction would be retroactively withdrawn and the charges dismissed. That does not 'remove' the conviction, but merely changes the record to show 'conviction reversed and dismissed by expungement'. If expunged, you would be able to say 'no' to conviction on most private employment applications. However, the conviction is still a 'prior' for purposes of repeat offense, and must be disclosed on any application for government and professional licensing, bonding, security clearance, etc. The agency and employer then can decide whether you are barred from employment because of your conviction. The Labor Code prohibits employers [not others] from asking about arrests that didn't end in conviction, or seeking that info from other sources, or using that info to deny employment. Private parties are not supposed to be able to access the records, but like all rules, there are ways around it. If you�re serious about doing this, and you think you qualify, feel free to contact me for the legal help you'll need.