Expunging Your Record When Cases Were Dismissed

Were you convicted?  The charges against me were dismissed, but the arrest is still on my record unless I have it expunged.  To me it LOOKS as bad as a conviction.  Hard to explain.  Have you ever seen what those printouts look like?  The ones I was given have a CODE to tell whether or not the person was found guilty (and I still haven't figured it out).   

 
If I ever get in another one, I want my record clean again.  I did nothing wrong.  The scumbag got what he deserved via my self defense, and we have a right to defend ourselves. 
 
The Petition for Expungement (they gave me it at the clerk's office) states the reasons why it is being expunged.  This petition they gave me states, among other things:
 
"That the continued existence and possible dissemination of the information relating to the aforesaid arrest of the petitioner may cause circumstances which constitute a manifest injustice to the petitioner."
 
"WHEREFORE your Petitioner prays that pursuant to Section 19.2-392.2 of the 1950 Code of Virginia, as amended, that all records relating to the aforesaid charges be expunged and that a copy of the order of expungement be forwarded to the State Police."
 
"WHEREFORE, your Petitioner prays that this Honorable Court enter an Order of Expungement in this matter."
 
All that stuff was already on the form.  First I had to get a certified copy of the arrest warrant at the appropriate office at the courthouse, then take it to a different office in the courthouse and they gave me the above described Petition, and a card to get fingerprinted AGAIN at the police station.  Then I carted my butt down to the police station and went through that routine again.  The courthouse clerk said I'll be notified in about a month of when I go to court to have it heard. 

George wrote:
> So, if I pay the DOR/CSE I can have my Criminal "Operating on
> Suspended License" "Crime" expunged?
>
> */Yohn <Yohn@COX.NET>/* wrote:
>
> Well today I took an extended lunch break and then stayed late to
> make up for it. Took another trip to the courthouse to have the
> charges I beat last week expunged. Otherwise it'd stay on my record
> even though the charges were "DISMISSED" and it looks terrible.
> Almost as bad as a conviction. It's costing me $80, and believe it
> or not, I had to be fingerprinted AGAIN in order to CLEAR my record
> with the police. Explain that one to me. And when they call me
> back I have to go back to court again, of course, to have it expunged.
>
> But most people wouldn't be able to afford a lawyer to do this for
> them even if they weren't getting plundered by child support. $200
> an hour adds up fast, and it DOES take time. But it's not rocket
> science (it's a piece of cake, really). Just ask the questions at
> the court house and do what they say. Simply tell them the truth -
> you can't afford a lawyer because of all the child support you're
> paying.
>
> It was the same way with parental testing. I had an attorney the
> first 3 times to the courthouse (didn't know any better), and she
> told me it'd cost me $600 to have parental testing done on the child
> she conceived while we were separated. I had it done myself for
> $210 total. It's $70 per person here in Chesapeake, VA. Both
> parents and one child comes to $210. It'd be $70 more for each
> additional child. I didn't have my son checked because we weren't
> separated when she conceived with him. And the judge recognized
> that fact, that I didn't request it for him - he made it obvious, as
> if he was trying to convince her attorney that there was nothing
> wrong with what I did.
>
> A different judge we had, in Ckt Ct (ours started there and then
> went to J&D - a long story), when I represented myself, was
> obviously impressed with what I presented and he held my
> presentation (about 37 pages) in his hand and said to her attorney
> "He made this!", as if he was trying to convince her that I
> genuinely care or something. He also said under his breath to me to
> get a divorce.
>
> Are you getting my point? The judges are afraid they'll lose their
> jobs if they don't pander to women in family courts.

ANSWER:

Unfortunately no. Unfortunately no. From my (albeit a layman's) understanding if you were convicted of committing the offense after 'lawfully' being notified of the suspension via the 'usual mechanism' (typically mail) then you would not be eligible to get the record expunged for at least 7 years (not 100% sure and too tired to look up). Only after a period of time could you then petition the court in which the offense was filed to expunge the record -- assuming you don't get another charge in the meantime.

However, I wouldn't get all worked up on that as not many employers are not going to give a hoot about the suspended license charge on your record. (Provided you don't drive trucks for a living or something like
that) That's just my non-legal Massachusetts-centric view of the process of course. YMMV.

- --Tim From my (albeit a laymans) understanding if you were convicted of committing the offense after 'lawfully' being notified of the suspension via the 'usual mechanism' (typically mail) then you would not be eligible to get the record expunged for at least 7 years (not 100% sure and too tired to look up). Only after a period of time could you then petition the court in which the offense was filed to expunge the record -- assuming you don't get another charge in the meantime.

However, I wouldn't get all worked up on that as not many employers are not going to give a hoot about the suspended license charge on your record. (Provided you don't drive trucks for a living or something like
that) That's just my non-legal Massachusetts-centric view of the process of course. YMMV.

- --Tim

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