Expunge DUI

Expungement of DUI Cases

If you have already been convicted of a DUI, you may become eligible for an expungement of your DUI conviction under California Penal Code Section 1203.4. An expungement results in a dismissal of your case. If you are granted an expungement, the court will set aside and dismiss the conviction. Specifically, the court will withdraw your guilty or no contest plea, or guilty verdict if you went to trial, and grant a not guilty plea.

Why should you apply for an expungement of your DUI?

There are several personal and professional reasons why someone would want to apply for an expungement. An expungement is not automatically granted, and will not be granted in the event that you have broken any law since you received your DUI conviction, so the fact that your conviction is set aside proves to you and others that you have learned from your experience and have lived a law-abiding life since your conviction.

On a professional level, you can truthfully tell private employers that you have not been convicted of a crime. What’s more, California Labor Code §432.7 prevents employers from asking about any arrest that didn’t result in a conviction, inquiring about it from other sources or use it in a hiring decision.  Note that if you ever apply for a job with a public entity, or for a professional license, when asked if you were ever convicted of a crime, you will have to report “Yes, and my conviction was dismissed.” Again, the fact that your conviction was set aside will definitely reflect more favorably on your character and indicates that you have fulfilled the requirements necessary to have your conviction set aside.

Additionally, most Licensing and Certification agencies in California will not grant a license to someone who has been convicted of a crime. The same is true for Governmental jobs. However, if your conviction has been expunged, most Governmental licensing and hiring agencies (except police agencies) are required to treat you the same as if you were never convicted of the crime.

What An Expungement Can Do For You 

An expungement will reflect that your conviction has been set aside. An expunged record cannot be used by private employers as a basis to deny you employment. Also, in the State of California, Government Employers (except for the police) and Licensing Agencies such as the Department of Real Estate, Board of Nursing, etc., will treat you the same as if you have never been convicted of a crime if your record has been expunged.

What An Expungement CANNOT Do For You

An expunged record can still be reviewed by a judge for the purposes of increasing your sentence if you are ever convicted of another crime in the future.  Also, an expungement does not wipe out your criminal record. Your criminal court file will not be physically destroyed, and is therefore searchable and is often discovered by private investigators and others who perform background checks. If your criminal court file is discovered, it will show that your conviction was set aside by the court. Accordingly, the Judicial Counsel of California advises that if you are asked by a private employer if you were convicted of a crime, you should answer “Yes, and the conviction was dismissed.” In the case of public employers and licensing agencies, you are required to answer that you have been convicted of a crime and that your conviction has been dismissed. Additionally, an expungement will not automatically grant you the ability to possess a firearm, nor will it restore any driving privileges that were revoked by the DMV due to the conviction.

When Can You Apply For An Expungement?

If you have been convicted of a misdemeanor DUI in a California state court (a 1st, 2nd or 3rd DUI with no accidents or injuries involved), and were not sentenced to prison, you are eligible to apply for an expungement at the end of your probation term.  If your probation term has not ended but you have fulfilled all other terms of your probation (such as CalTrans, community service, payment of fines) your lawyer may apply for early termination probation. Once early termination of probation is granted, you will be eligible to also apply for an expungement.

If you have been convicted of a Felony DUI in California, you would first need to petition the court to reduce the felony to a misdemeanor. So long as you were not sentenced to prison, and your Felony is reduced to a misdemeanor, you will be eligible to apply for an expungement.

If you served time in State Prison or otherwise were under the care of the Department of Corrections, you will not be eligible for an expungement, but may be eligible for a Certificate of Rehabilitation from the California Board of Prisons.

Originally published here.

Have you been arrested for DUI?
Do you have an older DUI arrest record that is haunting you when you are looking for a job or trying to obtain car insurance?
Are you spending hundreds and sometimes thousands of dollars in fines and penalties?
Do you just want to get your drivers license back?
A DUI is a mistake that can plague you for life & make your future miserable . From super high insurance rates to trouble passing a simple employment background check, those three letters will mark you as sure as if you had them written in red ink on your forehead. Figuring out how to beat a DUI is imperative if you are to get on with your life. Luckily, there are things you can do to completely erase or seriously minimize the damage a DUI does to your driving AND criminal records. If your DUI meets several simple criteria, you may be able to learn how to beat a DUI charge & have your record expunged completely, in all 50 states!
DUI convictions are a huge source of income to local governments in all 50 states, & there may be pressure to increase revenue by making more arrests. In addition, political lobbying groups such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving have a vested interest in keeping DUI arrests high.
The extremely polarizing nature of this offense has made DUI a “political” crime, with a one size fits all punishment system for ALL offenders. This means that someone who barely fails a sobriety test after having 2 or 3 glasses of wine at dinner gets the same punishment as someone who blows 3 times the legal limit after causing an accident with serious injuries. And when someone notices those 3 letters on your background check, they are likely to conjure visions of the second scenario.
All this means if you are convicted of a DUI, you’re life will change for the worse unless you educate yourself on how to beat a DUI charge. Even if your DUI is several years old, there are things you can do to minimize its effect on you life.

Clear Off Your DUI Records

A lot of individuals who have DUI records have no idea that they can actually clear their records. What is more, they do not know that they are given the chance to keep their bad records from appearing on background checks each time someone looks them up in databases. If you are one of these individuals, you now have an idea that you can clear your records. If your DUI record has been filed for many years already, you can have it cleared so your employment opportunities will not slip away. Conviction records due to driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol gives you a bad position in the society and in the eyes of the employers. This will ruin your chances of being able to land a job no matter your exemplary skills. If you have previous DUI records, make sure that you have it cleared.

Clearing Your DUI Records with the Help of an Attorney

If you have DUI records to clear, ask for the assistance of an attorney. A good lawyer will be able to help you clean your records permanently. If you want to hire an attorney, choose someone who specializes or knows how to handle DUI cases and records. There are a lot of lawyers within your state who act as defense attorneys for DWI or DUI cases. Aside from specializing in these types of cases, the attorney should also have a certification as an operator of breath tests. What is more, they should have certification as a trainer for SFST or standardized sobriety tests. With the help of the best state DUI attorney, you will have your DUI records cleared in no time.

Don’t let a DUI conviction keep you from getting a job, or hold you back in any way. Having a misdemeanor criminal conviction on your record is psychic baggage that you don’t need. Thanks to drunkdrivinginjurieslawyers.com, and the ability to expunge afforded by law, you don’t have to live with a DUI conviction on your record forever. Even if your drivers license was suspended and you have had license reinstatement, you may still expunge your driving record. If you’ve got a DUI record, go to drunkdrivinginjurieslawyers.com for help. Contact a qualified DUI expungement lawyer today.

Originally published here.