Legal Question in Criminal Law in Virginia

not entering a plea, case to be dimissed.

I am still a little confused about my court case. i've never been charged before. I was recently charged with a class I misdemeanor. I was not ''booked or fingerprinted,'' just issued a virginia uniform summons. I went to court and elected not to enter a plea. The judge was okay with this and I just agreed to do a few hours of community service and the case was merely continued for a couple of monts before it will be officially dimissed. There was no evidence presented in court. So can I still assert my innocence since I did not enter a plea? Again, no evidence was ever presented in open court. I did not plea guilty and I certainly did not plea no contest. Can I reasonably assume that I can get this charge expunged after the dismissal according to Virginia Expungement Laws.


Asked on 6/24/07, 7:43 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Michael Hendrickson Law Office Michael E. Hendrickson

Re: not entering a plea, case to be dimissed.

If you received the disposition known as "SIS"(Suspended Imposition of Sentence), you had to have entered a plea of guilty before a judge although

no sentence was imposed(and will not be imposed if you successfully complete

probation). With this type of criminal case disposition, there is no record of conviction since the defendant is never sentenced but there is a record of his or her arrest which may be expunged according to the requirements

under Sec. 19.2-392.2(F) of the Virginia Code of Criminal procedure.

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Answered on 6/24/07, 11:18 pm


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