Legal Question in Criminal Law in Florida

Perhaps if you actually read the statute you would understand that your attorney is following the proper process and that sealing a criminal record is not automatic, regardless of your incorrect belief and interpretation as you have stated above. Here is the statute, section 943.059. Take a careful look at it. It states as follows:

"This section does not confer any right to the sealing of any criminal history record, and any request for sealing a criminal history record may be denied at the sole discretion of the court."

The judge has every right to grant an order giving the State Attorney 60 days to respond to your petition. In fact, the judge has every right to not grant your petition at all, if that is what he decides "in the sole discretion of the court."

So be grateful you were granted a review, hope that the State Attorney doesn't raise any issue with your petition, and have a little patience to let the court system do what it needs to do.

Well now, Mr. Labovitz is being a real grump and is somewhat wrong.

Actually, the judge cannot just deny your petition to deny it. He must either take evidence or be provided with a compelling reason based upon the facts of your case. See generally Cole v. State, 941 So. 2d 549 (Fla. 1st DCA 2006).

With that said, it is also improper for a judge to grant any petition or motion without providing the opposing party an opportunity to respond. And for a Petition to Seal, 60 days is a reasonable amount of time.

If you would like more information on the Sealing and Expungement Process in Florida, please visit my website at www.richardhornsby.com.