can i get a misdameanor from 2007 when i was 18 expunged?
Asked on Nov 20th, 2017 on Criminal Law - Virginia
More details to this question:
2 weeks after my 18th birthday back in 2007 I plead no contender which was recommended to me by my attorney at the time for a charge that was brought against me for embezzlement. its now been over 10 years and I have not even so much have gotten a speeding ticket since. I have two college degrees and am an exemplarily citizen who would like this one blemish removed form my record.
While your charge is technically not eligible for expungment under the law, I have seen judges allow it in rare cases such as yours. The Virginia Code allows for expungment of arrest records and charges, not actual convictions. It is intended for those who were actually innocent. Since you were convicted you are assumed to not be innocent. Also, while juvenile records are expunged automatically after 5 years, unfortunately since you were over 18 this is part of your permanent record. Because of the sympathetic facts of your situation if you get a really nice judge on a good day they may take some pity on you and grant the expungment, even though the code does not authorize them to do that. If you get a by-the-book judge who feels constrained by the rule of law then they will probably deny it on the grounds that they don't have the authority to grant it, especially if you get a prosecutor who objects to it.
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