Legal Question in Criminal Law in Maryland

While a pardon may work, it depends on whether the military would accept such a disposition. Remember that a pardon excuses conduct that did happen as opposed to getting rid of a guilty finding. Ask your recruiter whether that would be acceptable to the military.

Another issue with the pardon is it is political. Typically, governers and Presidents have granted them to their closest supporters and at the end of their terms. In other words, it is a long shot, unless you have been doing a lot of political work or a big financial contributor to the chief executive of the state where you were convicted.

An alternative might be attacking your original conviction. If you were not advised on the record of all the fundamental rights affected by conviction, or if you were represented by an ineffective lawyer, you might be able to vacate the original guilty finding. There is no guarantee that postconviction or coram nobis would remove the guilty finding, and there can be significant time and expense involved, but it may be an option, and it does not involve the political process. Typically, politicians' campaigns involve rhetoric about how tough the candidate is on crime, and pardons do not have a political benefit for the candidate. Pardons go to people to whom the candidate owes a political debt.

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