Legal Question in Criminal Law in Georgia

Back around 1995 I caught my first & (hopefully last) felony. Being ignorant of the laws I retained counsel and was told to use the "First Offender's Act". Bad move...I was arrested for theft by taking of an auto & criminal damage to property. I subsequently was revoked three times on my probation. The Judge who sentenced me retired as Chief Judge of the Sup. Court. His replacement, told me in court I didn't 'look' like the criminal type, but I am hitting you with the felony. Had I known back then I would not have even bothered. It's my understanding that VERY few probationers make it through without revocation. I have not caught any felony cases since then, have stopped using alcohol and I take medication for Bipolar I. About the time I caught my felony case was when my life took a dive, having no idea what Bipolar even was. After around 15 years and numerous Doctor's later, I feel very good these days. All that being said, my question would be is there any advocacy to the Courts for an amendment possibly for non-violent offenders to have a 2nd chance? Is there any chance for one to have records expunged should they maintained an upstanding lifestyle with perhaps written statements from peers and community leaders? Lastly, it was a County Psychiatrist who suspected my illness and asked me to have a blood test run for evaluation of serotonin levels etc. In short, not asking for a handout, but if it was a factor during the commission of the crime....would any consideration for expungement be possible?

Thanks for your time,


Asked on 5/22/12, 4:13 am

2 Answers from Attorneys
Scott Riddle Law Office of Scott B. Riddle, LLC

If you want your record expunged to wipe your record clean and keep people from finding the information, you did them a favor by violating the rules of this forum and willingly posting your name, location, criminal and medical details on the internet for everyone to see. Now, anyone who searches for your name will likely find this forum, especially since your name is not a common name. You can try to contact the website owners to get it removed, but history shows they won't do it.

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Answered on 5/22/12, 4:51 am
Glen Ashman Ashman Law Office also dba Glen Ashman Attorney

Not only can you not get an expungement after a conviction, but you made the mistake of your life in violating Law Guru's rules and posting your name and location. Now anyone who ever Google's your name will know all about your criminal history and psychiatric history, and even if you get Law Guru to remove it, since search engines cache old pages, employers and others may still find it even without seeing your criminal history. Contact LawGuru immediately to remove your post and hope Google, Bing and other search engines have not yet found it.

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Answered on 5/22/12, 5:26 am


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