EXPUNGEMENT OF PAST CONVICTIONS (All California counties)

If you have a criminal conviction, and you've completed all the conditions of your probation and your probation period has ended, you should get your convictions expunged.
Expungement proceedings typically take four to eight weeks notice given to the District Attorney Office and the Probation Department and a hearing if required by the court.
If your case is a "wobbler" (chargeable as either a misdemeanor or a felony) and you were convicted of a felony, then we will ask the court to reduce your conviction to a misdemeanor.
Also, if the probationary period in your case has not yet expired, then we will ask the court for early termination of your probationary period.
Once the court has determined that you are thus eligible for "expungement," the court will allow you to withdraw your guilty plea (or a finding of guilt if rendered by jury trial) and enter a new plea of "Not Guilty," whereupon the court court will dismiss the case.
An Order of Dismissal will then be issued by the court.
Your file still exists, but the Order of Dismissal that the judge has granted allows you to truthfully state that you have never been convicted or arrested for that charge*.
Upon ordering the dismissal of your conviction, the court will order that its finding of dismissal be entered into your case file as well as the electronic computer system used by the courts and law enforcement.
(Full disclosure: everyone in the court system (judges, lawyers, law enforcement, probation officers, etc.
) uses the misnomer term "expungement" implying that your case has been destroyed.
) SOME OF THE ADVANTAGES OF AN EXPUNGEMENT/DISMISSAL: Any restriction of entry into a foreign country created by your now-dismissed conviction will no longer apply.
Indeed, some countries, like Canada, even know the exact California Penal Code Sections governing dismissals of conviction, and will accept a copy of the court's dismissal as proof of expungement.
Employers may not use an expunged conviction as grounds for not hiring, not promoting, or firing a person.
Indeed, an applicant for any employment opportunity is protected by law from unlawful use of the person's prior conviction.
*EXCEPTION: Any person who has been convicted of a crime, whether expunged or not by the courts, must still disclose the prior conviction if the employment opportunity is in any federal, state, or local government capacity.
Background checks are being used more and more by companies, agencies, and even private persons which may or may not have the legal right to make inquiries about a person's criminal background.
Inappropriate or illegal inquiries such as these may give rise to civil liability on the part of the inquiring parties.
Expungement of a prior criminal conviction is considered part of the right to privacy, absent lawful exceptions to the rule.
Call my office for an appointment to discuss the dismissal of your prior conviction.
Do not let an existing probation deter you as we may be able to get you an early termination of your probation, thereby allowing a dismissal (expungement) of your conviction.
Our office serves ALL California counties.
Our telephone number is: (818) 404-9311 Michael D.
Ross, Attorney at Law 5900 Sepulveda Boulevard, Suite 250 Sherman Oaks, CA 91411 (818) 404-9311