More details to this question:
I got two citations for supposedly abusing a cat a year ago. I did not abuse the cat, and the officer who gave me the citations had no interest in listening to me. I took the citations to court, and the prosecutor came out to me and didn't read me any rights or anything, and offered me deferred adjudication on one citation. I took it, and successfully completed probation. I know that this was just a citation, and a deferred adjudication counts as a dismissal in the state of Texas (I got the other citation dismissed too) but this "deferred adjudication" is still in my record. Do I have to mention anything about it in a question that asks "Have you ever been convicted of, or entered a plea for, or do you have charges pending against you for, a crime other than a minor traffic violation?" I heard that some places don't understand that a deferred adjudication is not a conviction. Should I mention it? Also, I don't know if what I did counts as entering a plea.
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You were never convicted if you successfully completed the deferred disposition. So, if an application (or similar document that asks those type of questions) asks if you've been "convicted," you can truthfully answer "No." However, if the question asks if you've ever been cited for or arrested for or entered a plea to any offense other than a traffic offense, you'd have to answer "Yes."
If these were Class C citations, however, you can have the arrest records expunged. Once the arrest records are properly expunged, you will be able to legally deny that you were ever issued citations for those offenses.
Feel free to call me if you would like to discuss the process.
Answered on Aug 09th, 2016 at 1:29 PM