10. Expungement
What is an Expungement
If you successfully completed probation and you are not currently serving any sentence, on probation, or being charged with any crime at this time, then upon successful application to the court where your prior conviction was entered, that court may vacate your guilty plea or verdict, enter a plea of not guilty, and dismiss your case. Thereafter, in many situations you may legally say it never happened. The purpose is to allow people to move on with their lives without forever being required to disclose past mistakes. Click here to see the law used for typical DUI expungements: Penal Code Section 1203.4.
Once your court probation is completed in Sonoma County, you may ask your Sonoma County DUI attorney to file an expungement petition in Santa Rosa so that you can legally not disclose this conviction on a future application for employment in the private sector. Even government jobs and state licensing boards or other situations where disclosure might still be required will, nevertheless, almost always view a successful expungement as a helpful, court-approved rehabilitation, and a respectful final outcome. As you can see below, expungement has limitations, so be sure to ask an attorney before relying on this procedure to "erase" a DUI, but the results can be beneficial. Situations can arise unexpectedly which could have benefited from a properly submitted and executed expungement; it is well worth a reasonable fee even if you do not see the need at this moment. Discount national on-line services have been known to charge as little as $495, but dependable quality from local lawyers typically range from $800 to $1500.
Benefits And Limitations Of Expungements
An expungement of a Sonoma County DUI will result in the dismissal of the case which was expunged and allow you to answer that you have not been convicted on applications for most non-government jobs (or jobs not requiring security clearances or government-issued licenses, certificates or permits). In addition, in many cases, expungement is the first step to obtain a pardon.
An expungement of a Sonoma County case will not remove the conviction from your criminal history records at the state or federal level. Rather those records will still show the conviction and also a dismissal pursuant to an expungement. An expungement will not prevent a Sonoma County conviction from being used as a prior offense to increase the severity of punishment in a new case. An expungement will not prevent the conviction from being used to challenge your credibility if you testify in a court case. An expungement will not prevent the conviction from being considered in government licensing, certification or permitting matters. An expungement will not prevent the conviction from being considered in immigration proceedings. An expungement will not eliminate sex offender registration requirements. An expungement will not reinstate an ex-felon's right to possess firearms (although a reduction to a misdemeanor first by a Santa Rosa judge may accomplish this in certain cases).
An expungement of a Sonoma County DUI will not seal or otherwise remove the court file from public access. It is important to understand that anyone who is persistent, skilled, or knows where to look, will likely find the file or case information. This is especially true in light of the prevalence of excellent internet search engines and services (free and fee-based) which may always be able to produce court and media records of arrests and convictions.
However, it is worth repeating that even if such records may be found, or if disclosure of an expunged conviction is required, or if use of an expunged conviction is still permitted in certain situations, nonetheless the fact that you obtained an expungement from a Santa Rosa judge is typically viewed as the proper and best means of securing an officially-stamped acknowledgement of rehabilitation and a respectful final outcome which should reduce the weight and significance of the conviction in many situations. Situations can arise unexpectedly which could have benefited from a properly submitted and executed Sonoma County DUI expungement; it is well worth a reasonable fee even if you do not see the need at this moment.
Research Your Case and Other Supporting Documentation
If you choose, you can accomplish the initial work yourself, by obtaining a court "docket" history of your case(s) from the Sonoma County criminal court clerk's office.
Fill out an official expungement form; click on the link below and fill out the form online, print it and send it together with your docket(s) to a Santa Rosa DUI lawyer such as Jake to review, comment and process it through the legal system for you.
In addition, as you will see below, the law now requires that you appeal to the judge's sense of justice when a court considers a petition for expungement of a past DUI. Therefore a good Sonoma County lawyer will ask you to write a description of the facts and circumstances of the conviction, any explanations surrounding unsuccessful periods of probation, and a detailed account of your life from the date of conviction to present day. You can also begin the process of collecting any evidence of rehabilitation in the community by making copies of diplomas, church letters, employment letters, evidence of charitable accomplishments, and letters of recommendation from friends and community leaders. The goal is to present a compelling series of facts and arguments for granting you relief from the effects of a past mistake by showing you have become an outstanding and respectable contributor in society.
Use a Local Attorney
If you don't know the information requested in the form, you can have a local Sonoma County DUI lawyer research and process the form on your behalf. In addition, hiring a Sonoma County defense attorney may be necessary to successfully challenge a court's routine denial of expungement if the Sonoma County District Attorney's office continues to automatically "reject" DUI expungement petitions as that office has done in the past. Finally, the expungement laws changed in 2008 to eliminate the absolute right to expungements in DUI cases (and certain other driving offenses -- see VC 12810(a)-(e)), requiring a court to use its discretion to grant expungement petitions only in the interests of justice. (PC 1203.4(c)). A Santa Rosa lawyer familiar with this change in the law may be a great advantage to properly presenting your history and situation to the Sonoma County Superior Court to obtain this valuable closure.
Most expungements take approximately four to twelve weeks for an attorney to process and accomplish. Click here for the fillable form: Petition And Order For Expungement.