Legal Question in Criminal Law in Michigan

Re: Misdemeanor

The short answer is no. Michigan law allows an expungement only if there is one conviction. Since you have two you are not eligible. However, it may be possible to have one of the courts reopen your case and dismiss it outright. If this happens then you can have the other expunged. All of the above is assuming that your charges did not involve a minor. You would probably need the assistance of an attorney in your community. You can contact the county bar association and ask for a referral. Good luck.

Re: Misdemeanor

We get a lot of questions on lawguru.com about expungements (or "setting aside a conviction"). Check out this recent answer (if the URL wraps to 2 lines, you might need to copy the address into the browser's location box):

http://www.lawguru.com/cgi/bbs/mesg.cgi?i=193798740

I disagree with the first reponse that suggested that you could "divide and conquor" your two prior convictions by reopening one case and getting it "dismiss[ed] outright" ... and then getting the other one expunged (i.e., getting your remaining conviction set aside). That strikes me as having the same lack-of-logic as someone murdering his parents and pleading for the court's mercy because he's now an orphan!

The trouble with the slim-hope option suggested in the first answer is that your application for expungment on one of the cases has to attest whether you�ve been convicted of an offense other than the one to be set aside, and whether you�ve previously filed an application to set aside this or any other conviction and, if so, the disposition of the application. If you had been able to "reopen and get dismissed" the other case, you'd have to divulge that on your application on case #2. The judge on case #2 would know that you "HAD been convicted" on another criminal charge. Any prosecutor would see through this charade and argue against setting aside conviction #2.

The bottom line is that 2 convictions are one too many to get either conviction set aside.

Another fact that disqualifies you from expungment is that more than 5 years must have passed from the time your criminal case ended ... and that includes when your probation time ended. You mentioned that one case is only 4 years old, which is too recent anyway. If you were put on probation, the 5-year clock starts ticking when your probation/parole/incarceration ends.

Expungement is a discretionary call by a judge, and you cannot lie to the judge or misrepresent your history. You could be held in contempt of court for filing a false application, or could face a perjury charge if you lied to the court under oath about a material fact.

Regardless of the outcome on your efforts, keep doing what you're doing! You have apparently led a law-abiding life for several years. You are to be commended for turning your life around!