Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Kentucky

Very lengthy back story. When I was 17 in my junior year of high school, my recent ex-girlfriend at the time filed a false charge at the local court house. She meant to get an EPO (by her word, and I did get them) though she claims her mother and the prosecutor ran with it and ramped it up to a civil charge of terroristic threatening, which they counted as a misdemeanor demestic violence charge, and a criminal charge of assault.

The allegation was that I had verbally threatened to kill her while on school grounds. This did not occur and they never brought any proof of said claim to court, though they named times and witnesses, though there were witnesses to dispute those falsified claims. The case dragged on for nearly two months, draining my family's money and time, as well as impacting my schooling due to not being allowed within 100 feet of the school due to the EPO and the charges.

Eventually, the prosecutor said that they were prepared to drop the charges if I attended a psychological evaluation to determine if I had anger management issues or not. My lawyer said it was the best thing we could hope for, outside of going to court and getting a not-guilty verdict. Though the latter required more money and time that we couldn't afford. He assured us that this option would allow us to expunge the charges and I would have no ill effects from this ordeal. I passed the psych eval with no issues. We went on to file the expungement and we were finished.

That was nearly seven years ago. Now, I find myself pursuing an opportunity in the military. Upon doing so, I made them aware of this issue, though they didn't seem to think anything of it. A day before I was scheduled to go to MEPS for a swear in with the Navy, I was called and said my processing was terminated due to these charges. I've since read up heavily on military sites, military law, asked friends who were in the military and had something to do with their systems, etc.

I'm finding that the military looks at these things far, far differently. They see that I essentially took a deal to avoid any repurcussions from these charges, and are saying it looks like a plea bargin, deal, sign of guilt, etc. I visited the court house today to get more information on things. They told me that the charge of assault that was filed on me must of been a criminal offense (and the expungement took care of it) because they couldn't view it in the records. However, the terroristic threatening charge remains, because as I found out today, its considered a civil charge, and is only a misdemeanor. I'm not sure which charge the military is disqualifying me for (I know they can see both). Is there anything that can be done about this to remove the charges? Is it possible to appeal their regulations towards this? I know that a waiver is possible, but the recruiters have no need or desire to pursue it once I'm truthful with them concerning this.

I'm really at a loss, and I feel like I was given bad advice from my lawyer concerning the out come of all of this. As said, I didn't find out today that there was even two charges, one criminal that was expunged, and one civil that remains. Is there anyway to remove these smudges that shouldn't of existed in the first place?


Asked on 4/08/11, 9:50 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Andrea Welker Welker Law Office

Without reviewing your criminal history, or the files, I can't be absolutely certain what happened, but it sounds like everything was done properly. The criminal charge was dismissed with prejudice and expunged. If you'd gone to trial, you'd have run the risk of a guilty verdict, even with bad evidence and witnesses, and even with an acquittal, you'd still be in the same boat you're in now: you'd have been acquitted, the charge was expunged, but the military might just view it as you got lucky and got off.

The unfortunate thing with civil actions is they don't go away, even when dismissed. That includes EPO's, which are civil actions (although violating one has criminal consequences) even if it isn't granted. (Unless you've lived together or you share a child, you can't get an EPO granted, there's no standing. But you still get to take a trip to domestic violence court over it, and waste everyone's time.)

As for the military, they don't have to take you. But they should follow their own protocols when it comes to disqualifying recruits. You should talk to your recruiter and contact an attorney for a consultation to see if there's anything that can be done to help you. Many attorneys give free consultations. An attorney will need to have as much information as possible in order to assess your case.

Sounds like you got railroaded by a vindicative girl and her family. You should have sued her for defamation once the charges were dismissed.

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Answered on 4/09/11, 12:33 pm


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