Legal Question in Criminal Law in Michigan

Re: Need a job

An expungement cannot be requested until at least five years from the day your husband was convicted. The conviction runs from the day that your husband pled guilty or was found guilty, not from the date of sentence.

Is it possible that it has been five years, rather than three?

-Tom

Re: Need a job

The first reply is slightly wrong. The petition to set aside the conviction (aka "expungment") cannot be filed until at least 5 years after the conviction date (sentencing date), or the date he got off probation, the date he got out of prison/jail ... WHICHEVER IS LATER. So, if he got probation for 6 months, the "5 year clock" begins to run when he was OFF probation.

The theory is that you have to show 5+ years of clean livin' after the court stopped looking over your shoulder and you were free to make choices in your life. Otherwise, a person could be sentenced to 5 years in prison, walk out of prison and right into a courtroom to set aside that conviction. Doesn't make good public policy to allow that to happen.

We answer a lot of questions here about setting aside a conviction. I recommend that you go to the "Search Q&A Database" link on the left side of the screen ... and search in Michigan criminal law for "expungment" or "set aside a conviction" to see other questions and answers.