A conviction, or even being arrested for a crime, can have consequences that linger long after the case is over and the sentence is served. Persons with criminal records are subject to many challenges when navigating their daily lives, including social stigma and obstacles in obtaining employment, continuing education, securing an immigration status, and even renting an apartment or home.

Luckily, California law provides ways for eligible individuals to clear their criminal records, helping minimize these barriers. This blog discusses how you can clear your criminal record and have a fresh start free of past legal mistakes. You want to consult an experienced record-clearing lawyer before you begin any criminal record-clearing process.

There Are Two Primary Ways to Clear Criminal Records

If you have been arrested or convicted of an offense in Los Angeles, you may qualify for relief through various straightforward legal actions. Some criminal convictions can be modified on your record, so when you apply for most jobs, you can lawfully state you have never been convicted of that offense. In other cases, convictions may be reduced from felonies to misdemeanors before they are dismissed. The two primary ways to clear your criminal record in Los Angeles are expungement and record sealing.

Clearing Your Record Through Expungement

An expungement is the legal process of clearing a person's record. The term “expunge” means to delete or erase from existence. In the legal context, the term relates to a person's criminal conviction. Particularly, expungement is the formal process of removing a criminal conviction from a federal or state record. It works in such a way that you withdraw your no-contest or guilty plea and have the court dismiss your case. When that happens, the expunged criminal conviction will be as though it never happened or existed.

Generally, an expungement under California law does not completely erase a conviction from your criminal record. The conviction will show as dismissed. That means a person running a criminal background check on you will be able to see that you were charged. However, they will only see that the charges were dismissed.

An expungement will release you from most, though not all, of the disabilities and penalties of a conviction. For example, once you expunge your criminal conviction:

  • An employer might not discriminate against you based on the expunged conviction when you apply for a job
  • You can easily acquire a professional license.
  • Your reliability as a court witness cannot be impeached using the expunged conviction (except if you are the accused person facing prosecution in a subsequent case)
  • You can avoid some immigration consequences, like deportation
  • Barriers to going to Canada will be lifted

Unluckily, there are many restrictions on what expunging a conviction can do. For example, expunging your record will not:

  • Restore your firearm rights under PC 29800
  • End the obligation for sex offender registration under PC 290
  • Overturn a revocation or suspension of your driver's license
  • Keep the deleted conviction from being considered a strike offense on your criminal record under the state's three-strikes law.

Additionally, an expunged conviction may still count as a prior conviction for purposes of sentencing enhancement. For example, an expunged conviction of a DUI will still be considered a prior if you are later arrested and convicted for another DUI.

Eligibility for Record Expungement

Generally, PC 1203.4 allows felony and misdemeanor expungement if you have completed your formal or informal probation or jail time (whichever was imposed) and you are not presently facing criminal prosecution, on probation for an offense, or incarcerated for a conviction. If you violated probation, the judge has discretion to either grant or deny your expungement request. During your court proceeding on deciding whether to grant an expungement after a probation violation, the judge can consider various factors, including the following:

  • The severity of the initial conviction
  • Your general performance when you were on probation
  • Your criminal record
  • Any more evidence that proves why you should be granted an expungement, including an opportunity to secure good employment, the support of your family, and strong ties to the community

Particular felony violations do not qualify for an expungement under any circumstances. These include serious or violent felonies and crimes requiring sex offender registration. Examples of these crimes include:

  • Lascivious or lewd acts against a minor
  • Statutory rape
  • Distribution or possession of child pornography
  • Terrorism
  • Murder
  • Mayhem
  • Arson causing severe injury

You are generally disqualified from expunging your conviction record if you were sentenced to prison, either after a conviction or for violating probation. However, there is one exception—you can expunge your record in this case if you have served your time in jail, and had you perpetrated the violation after the passage of the Prop 47 realignment law in 2011. Per this exception, described in Section 1203.42 of the Penal Code, a judge has wide discretion to agree to your expungement request if the following is true:

  • Your offense is presently punishable by jail time
  • The judge trusts that an expungement would serve the interests of justice
  • You are not serving probation for a violation, incarcerated for any violation, under supervised custody release for any violation, or accused of committing any crime
  • At least two years have gone by since you finished serving your sentence

To request a conviction record expungement under PC Section 1203.42, you will have to petition the court personally, through a lawyer, or through a probation officer approved in writing. Once you submit your petition and the court grants it, you will withdraw your nolo contendere or guilty plea and plead not guilty. Alternatively, if the court convicted you after you had entered a not-guilty plea, it would set aside the guilty verdict. After either step, the judge will dismiss the charges against you. Then, it will be as though you obtained a regular record expungement under PC 1203.4.

Remember that a prisoner who served as a firefighter through a prison fire camp can often qualify for a conviction expungement and a parole waiver.

The Procedure for Expungement

Effective July 2024, a wide range of cases can automatically be expunged once you complete probation or your charges are dismissed, doing away with the requirement to follow a legal expungement process. Speak with your lawyer to know whether you must formally request an expungement. If so, you will have to follow these steps:

  1. Hiring Legal Counsel

The process of expunging a conviction record can be complicated and requires intensive paperwork. Any mistake could lead the judge to deny your application. However, an experienced defense lawyer would know what is and is not required and would handle everything correctly from the beginning to the end.

  1. Completing the Right Forms

A record-clearing lawyer knows the necessary forms to complete for every case. Otherwise, many application papers are available at the applicable courthouse or via online searches. If, for example, you served informal probation, then you would petition the court to dismiss the misdemeanor under PC 1203.4. And if you have not completed probation, you would petition for early termination. If the judge denies the motion, you would file a dismissal petition.

Note that you cannot expunge a felony until it is reduced to a misdemeanor. Judges usually approve petitions to lower felony wobblers to misdemeanor charges. Also, it is worth noting that you can only lower non-wobbler felonies to misdemeanors by completing the necessary form under PC 17(b)(3). Only after you have completed the form will you be able to petition the court to dismiss the misdemeanor PC 1203.4.

To expunge a record, you must complete one application for every record you wish to expunge. You may also attach character references to your petition.

  1. Filing the Expungement Petition

After you have filled out the correct forms, the next step is to file them in court. The petition is filed in the specific court that heard your case. Usually, courts respond to these petitions within 5 months. Each court has its costs and policies. At times, expungement petition papers must be personally delivered to the presiding court or mailed.

Filing the paperwork on time is crucial. For example, the law requires that you provide the prosecution with a minimum of fifteen days’ notice before the hearing. That allows the prosecution to assess the petition and challenge it. If you cannot afford it, you may receive financial support to cover the filing costs.

  1. Preparing for the Hearing

You may or may not have to be present at the hearing. Whichever the case, the decision on whether or not to expunge your record lies with the judge. There will be no jury at the hearing. You will have higher chances of winning if you can sustain employment, have completed the imposed community work, and do not have additional convictions.

If your request is denied, you can refile after 6 months, including the necessary changes. Should the judge grant your petition, your conviction should be removed from public access.

Clearing Your Record Through Record Sealing

Many people easily confuse record sealing and expungement. However, these are two completely different processes, though both aim to clear criminal records. Expungement dismisses convictions, whereas record sealing applies to arrest records. It is the process of clearing your case from your criminal record so it no longer appears in criminal background checks, with a few exceptions.

You qualify to seal and destroy your record if:

  • You were arrested, but the prosecution did not file charges
  • The prosecution filed charges after the arrest, but the court dismissed the case
  • You were subject to a trial by the jury and were acquitted
  • The court convicted you, but the conviction was overturned after an appeal
  • You completed a diversion program (for example, drug diversion)

Also, once you have expunged your conviction, you can finally proceed to seal the criminal record from public view. If your record is sealed and destroyed, you can legally state that you have never been arrested for any crime.

With the enactment of Assembly Bill (AB) 1076 and Senate Bill (SB) 731, the records of most qualified individuals are automatically sealed upon qualification. The process is known as automatic relief. The following are the waiting periods for automatic record sealing for eligible cases:

  • For a misdemeanor arrest record without charges, the court will automatically seal the record 12 months following the arrest.
  • A felony arrest that did not result in criminal charges is sealed three years following the arrest.
  • The record of dismissed misdemeanor charges is immediately following the dismissal.
  • A record of a dismissed felony charge is also immediately sealed following the dismissal.
  • A misdemeanor conviction that resulted in probation is sealed upon completion of probation.
  • A felony conviction that results in a probation sentence (excluding violent, sex offender, or serious crimes) is sealed immediately after the probation sentence.
  • A misdemeanor conviction that did not result in probation is sealed one year after the case ends.
  • A felony conviction that does not result in probation (excluding sex offender, violent, or serious crimes) is automatically sealed four years after the end of the case.

Remember that sealing your record will not reinstate your gun rights.

Apart from adult records, you can also seal your juvenile record if you have one. Doing so will grant you the same advantage as sealing adult records. You can seal your juvenile delinquency record if the following is true:

  • The juvenile court's jurisdiction ended at least 5 years ago, or you are presently a grown-up, and
  • Since you became a grown-up, you have never been found guilty of a moral turpitude crime (this is an offense involving immorality or dishonesty), and
  • There is no unresolved civil litigation related to the juvenile incident

Once the court grants your petition, your juvenile delinquency record will remain sealed for 3 years, after which it will be destroyed.

Find an Experienced Record Clearing Lawyer Near Me

Record clearing enables people who have had trouble with the law to leave their past mistakes behind and explore new opportunities. An individual must work hard to clear their record, but the benefits that result can entirely transform their lives. If you wish to clear your record after an arrest or conviction in Los Angeles, we at the Law Office of Sara L. Caplan can help you. We will thoroughly review your case to determine what options you are eligible for and commence your journey towards a clean slate. Call us today at 310-550-5877 for immediate help.