Can I Expunge My Case

Can I Expunge My Case?
Derek Byrd, Byrd Law Firm

I often get the question can I have my record expunged. Expunge is a fancy legal word that means erase. As you can probably imagine most criminal clients, most people that have been arrested for a crime, want the crime to “go away” and they want to have the record erased.

They do not want future employers future spouses future friends or anyone to be able to see that they were arrested.  The only way that can happen is if you have your record expunged.  To be able to have your record expunged is really a pretty narrow group of cases that apply for that.

First, the case has to be dismissed. That means that the case has to absolutely be thrown out and dismissed and there cannot be a plea to the case whatsoever. The second qualification is, that you can have no prior criminal history, no prior convictions of any kind, no matter how long ago.

So, what we run into sometimes to someone say, 25 years ago, received a DUI that they pled guilty to and were convicted of a DUI. And then 25 years later, they pick up the new charges and were successful in having the case dismissed or the case is thrown out, and they wanted to have that new charge expunged. Unfortunately, they are not eligible. You are not eligible to have your record expunged if you have any prior criminal history.

Now when I say prior criminal history, I mean you’ve been convicted of a crime. Not that you are just merely arrested 15 years ago in New Orleans and the case was thrown out, this means that you actually pled guilty to an offense and were convicted of the offense. So, you have prior withholdings of adjudication your lifetime or you have prior dismissals in your lifetime and then the case that you’re currently arrested for gets dismissed. You are eligible to have that case expunged.

One other caveat is that you only get one expungement in life. You might want to use it carefully. So, if you had disorderly conduct from 15 years ago that was dismissed but today you pick up a more serious charge an aggravated assault, of the two, I would probably want the aggravated assault expunged.  One expungement life only qualifies when the case is absolutely dismissed and only qualified if you have no prior criminal convictions. Such a pretty narrow group.

You also hear people talk about “sealing”.  Sealing the record is not an expunging record. sealing the record only means that you’re closing the clerk file.  So your neighbor cannot to go down the clerk’s office and begin reading all the allegations that were in the police report etc. You sealed the actual record but you have not expunged it so anybody who’s doing a background check, will still see, even though you had something sealed that you actually have a criminal history. The sealing is not nearly as valuable as an expungement. With the cases that can be sealed, you have a broader range of cases that can actually be sealed you don’t have to have an absolute dismissal. In fact, you can receive a withhold of adjudication on a case still having that case sealed.

I hope that clarifies the confusion between sealing a case and expunging a case. I would highly recommend anyone that is wanting to have his or her case dismissed to pursue legal help. The Byrd Law Firm will be absolutely happy to help you try to expunge your record.

All information contained herein is provided for the purpose of providing basic information only and should not be construed as formal legal advice. The Sarasota Attorneys disclaim any and all liability resulting from reliance upon such information.  You are strongly encouraged to seek professional legal advice before relying upon any of the information contained herein. Legal advice should be sought directly from a properly retained lawyer or attorney.