Talk to our Maryland expungement lawyers to find out more about how our brightest legal minds can help seal your mistakes and give you a chance at a clean record. Expungement is meant to clear the legal record of an offender who has committed a non-violent crime. Since many of these crimes often involve alcohol or drug use, it is no surprise that rehabilitation or other treatment options are used in lieu of incarceration. To read more about what happens during the expungement process, continue to the sections below or contact one of our expert expungement lawyers in Maryland.
Below are examples of some common crimes for which people petition the Maryland courts in order to have a record expunged.
How Clearing Criminal Records Puts People to Work
Some records can be expunged or partially expunged, but some not at all. Here are a few important things to keep in mind when attempting to determine if your record meets the expungement requirements:.
Special note: If you are convicted of multiple charges traffic violations notwithstanding , and are denied expungement or are ineligible for expungement on any one of those charges, you are also not eligible to receive expungement on the other charges you were charged with. While you may be eligible for expungement based on the above requirements, there are still some stipulations that govern when and how your record can be expunged.
If your petition was based on probation before judgement, you must wait three years after probation was granted or discharged before filing for expungement petition. If you are convicted of a specific nuisance crime, you must also wait three years after the conviction or satisfactory completion of the sentence, including probation, whichever is later. However, in all cases, if you are currently a defendant or have subsequently been convicted of a crime that carries possible incarceration, you will not be eligible.
For most intents and purposes, expungement is permanent. Whether your specific files both physical copies and digital renditions are completely destroyed or moved to a location where people are denied access, your records are not to be opened or reviewed unless by way of a court order. However, if your record is opened in the future, copies will not be made and you cannot be charged with the same crime twice.
For most people, the purpose of a legal record expungement is to create a cleaner background check for future employment prospects. If you are interested in an expungement for this reason, there are some things you should know about your rights and what information you can withhold from applications and questions. Second, if you refuse to give information about an expunged charge, it cannot be the sole reason an employer does not hire you, whether the employer is private or governmental in nature.
Plus, a person who violates these two points is potentially liable to face fines and imprisonment of their own. If you care about your professional future but are unsure how your past indiscretions may affect your ability to earn a living, talk to our Maryland expungement lawyers today and start moving forward with your life.
Methods for Expungement in Washington DC
Whether the person filing the motion was guilty or innocent does not matter for purposes of the motion. The only felony conviction eligible for expungement is a felony Bail Reform Act violation failing to appear for court. These rules all apply when filing a motion to seal based on the interest of public justice. This motion requires the defendant to show its in the interest of public justice to have their record sealed.
The government usually does not oppose these types of motions where the defendant is eligible to have his or her record sealed. Someone arrested and charged with a crime but not convicted can file a motion under grounds of actual innocence. That motion can be filed at any time after the case is dismissed. However, to file on grounds of actual innocence, the moving person must prove by a preponderance of the evidence that person did not commit the offense.
If the person waits longer than four years to file the motion, the burden of proof rises to clear and convincing evidence.
In cases like this, the defendant must obtain and produce actual evidence showing either she did not commit the crime or someone else committed it. A common way to show actual innocence is by getting the complaining witness to sign an affidavit or declaration stating the crime did not happen. The statement must be true because the complainant must sign under oath and could subject themselves to perjury were they to lie. In when the District of Columbia City Council legalized possession of certain amounts of marijuana, it also amended the record sealing statute.
Any legalized or decriminalized offense whether arrest or conviction is eligible for sealing in DC. That means you can file a motion to seal any marijuana arrest or conviction that occurred prior to legalization going into effect.
How Clearing Criminal Records Puts People to Work - CityLab
If your record is sealed under the interest of public justice, then you still must disclose your arrest and conviction in certain circumstances. The D. Code sets out six scenarios you must still disclose your arrest or conviction. You must disclose a sealed under the interest of public justice standard to any court, prosecutor, law enforcement agency, licensing agency if the offense would disqualify you from obtaining the license, and any licensed school, daycare, educational, or child protection agency.
Lastly, you must disclose in connection with employment as a judicial or quasi-judicial officer or employment at senior level executive grade government employment.