Expungements
In limited circumstances, a defendant may be able to have a conviction dismissed or expunged from his or record. The law on this topic varies in different jurisdictions. Under California law, certain defendants who were never sentenced to state prison and were, instead, sentenced to probation may have an opportunity to re-open their case, set aside their guilty plea, and have their case dismissed.
In these cases, the benefits of expungement are often circumspect. For example, an expungement will not erase a prior conviction from a defendant’s criminal history. In this context, a defendant’s “expunged” prior conviction can still be used to increase a sentence in future criminal litigation.
The main benefit of expungement is to conceal the conviction from future employers to ensure your livelihood is not unfairly compromised when applying for a job and to protect a person’s constitutional right to vote which may otherwise be forfeited by felony conviction. Since this area of law is wrought with several exceptions, retaining legal appellate counsel can be indispensable. Nevertheless, as a starting point and as part of The Legal Appeals Group commitment to empowering its clients, The Legal Appeals Group suggests reviewing the California Courts’ website at http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/selfhelp/other/crimlawclean which concisely summarizes these issues highlighting how complicated expungement can be.
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