Legal Question in Civil Litigation in New York

Re: What is an ACD?

"ACD" stands for Adjournment in Contemplation of Dismissal and you've essentially covered its definition: for the specified period (in your boyfriend's case, 6 months), so long as there are no subsequent arrests for anything followed by a conviction, the original arrest will be dismissed. Essentially it's like this: you've been good until now, if you stay good for another 6 months the court will dismiss the charge. If however an arrest within the ACD period is followed by a conviction on the charges leading to the second arrest then the original charge that was initially adjourned (ACD'd) is reinstated as a conviction and the maximum penalty is typically handed down.

This situation is complicated by the fact that the second arrest was in another jurisdiction. The arrest itself is not enough to cause the ACD to morph into a conviction on the initial charge (as the Constitution demands that we are all innocent until proven guilty). But a conviction on the Arizona charges - esp. the possession charge - if discovered by the NY court will likely result in an arrest warrant for your boyfriend.

Which raises the issue of whether the original jurisdiction, NY, will find out about an Arizona conviction. Perhaps. Everything is computerized these days. But you can take heart in the fact that government agencies are notoriously inefficient, so maybe they (NY) won't find out. But putting your money on that, so to speak, is of course risky.

The best bet for your boyfriend is to persue an acquital in Arizona or even an ACD on the charges. But the situation is dicey and I wish you both the best.

John Friedman