Legal Question in Family Law in Virginia

Re: Misdomeanor Crimes of Domestic Violence and Federal Firearms Prohibition

If the misdemeanor domestic violence conviction

occurred in Virginia, S19.2-392.2 of the Va. Code of Criminal Procedure spells out the conditions under which court and police records may be expunged in the Commonwealth.

Basically, those conditions involve:

1. Outright acquittal of the defendant after trial;

2. Dismissal of the case before trial by the

prosecution (nolle prossed);

Either of the above two conditions would allow for expungement of police(arrest)records under this statute, or

3. The defendant, having been granted an absolute pardon for the commission of the crime for which he was unjustly convicted, would then be eligible for expungement of the court conviction record under this statute. Unless this latter condition were to apply to your domestic violence conviction, there would be no way to have it expunged from your record and the prohibition against gun ownership/purchase and/or possession under the federal statute which you have cited would, unfortunately, continue to be applicable to you.