Legal Question in Criminal Law in Minnesota

Expungement of false charges from another state

i was arrested and charged with criminal sexual assault in 1982. the case went to court and before the trial even started the judge dismissed all charges (with prejudice) because the evidence showed that my blood type was not the blood type of the person that actually committed the crime(luckily my blood type is semi rare). i was told that all information concerning this crime would be taken off of any records relating to me. now i find that after over 20 years this was not the case, and the charges are still on record. i was trying to get a job and this info came back as part of the background check. i now live in GA. and in checking with a lawyer here i was told i would have complete a request for expungement form and then wait for a date to appear before a judge, then go back to MN in order to ''try'' and have these charges expunged. is there any way to have the charges expunged without going back to MN? Also the form asks for all of the addresses that i've had since 1982, i have no idea of all of the places that i've lived since 1982. Even thought i was proven innocent and the charges dismissed, the information that comes back from the background check only shows the charges and makes no reference to the dismissal of the charge


Asked on 6/08/05, 8:40 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Thomas C. Gallagher Gallagher Criminal Defense

Re: Expungement of false charges from another state

If the charge was resolved in your favor and dismissed by the court in Minnesota, you should be able to Petition the Court for Expungement of Public Records related to the charge. There are variations of "expungement" remedies, which could be obtained. I cannot exhaustively summarize Minnesota expungement law here.

You could try doing it without a lawyer. But, of course, it would more likely to get done properly and effectively with a lawyer's help.

One thing you could do even without or before pursuing an expungement action, would be to file a copy of the dismissal order with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (they administer the FBI's "NCIC" system in Minnesota); and ask them to update their record to show the charge had been dismissed.

Contact me if you would like to discuss how I could help you with this. (I am in Minneapolsi, Minnesota.)

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Answered on 6/08/05, 9:00 am


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