Legal Question in Criminal Law in Michigan

Re: ''Not a felon any more''

You question is asked here a lot.

You are asking about whether you can "expunge" the felony from your criminal record. In Michigan, we also call it "setting aside a conviction."

Go to www.co.eaton.mi.us/ecpa/define.htm#expungment for a link to the statutes on setting aside a conviction.

I my opinion, you can not expunge (or set aside) your old felony conviction. Why? Expungment is a grace provision for people who have one --- and only one --- criminal conviction in their lifetime. Any other misdemeanor or felony conviction (before or afterward) will disqualify you.

You cannot expunge your Michigan felony conviction because, any way you look at it, you have "another conviction" on your record: driving on a suspended license (a misdemeanor) and improper plates (a misdemeanor). No proof of insurance is a civil infraction, which will not count against you here.

It may seem harsh that your most serious conviction is so old, and your only other criminal record since then is quite minor. But the legislature set the bar quite high before people are eligible for expungment.

Even if you were technically qualified to get an expungement, the judge is not required to do it. He has the "discretion" to do it, or not.

Now, I could be wrong about your case. Maybe your background is not exactly as you have stated in your question. Maybe a kind-hearted judge will ignore the technical requirements of the law.

I recommend that you talk to an attorney, who can go over your facts and discuss the expungment laws with you, and might be able to help you with the court forms. (Your spelling is not very good, so you should get help anyway, so you give the judge the best possible impression.)

If you decide to file for an expungment, go back to the court where you got the felony conviction and get copies of the forms from the court clerk to set aside your conviction. The forms explain the process, but in essence you have to fill out the form, and send a copy to the State Police along with 2 sets of your fingerprints. The prosecutor also gets a copy of the form. The state police will do a criminal history check and report to the court whether you have any other criminal convictions. After that, the court will schedule a hearing on your request.

Good luck. And, regardless of the outcome, keep doing what you're doing! You are to be commended for turning your life around!

Re: ''Not a felon any more''

The prosecutor's answer is absolutely correct. I had the fortunate experience of being in front of one of those "lenient" judges who decided to expunge a criminal sexual conduct conviction in spite of the fact that my client also had a misdemeanor driving while license suspended conviction. In what county is your felony conviction? Give it a try!!!