Criminal Records, Expungement Misdemeanor Expungement in CA

[folfriend2003]

I am now looking to get a competent lawyer to get an expungement for a misdemeanor conviction (1 count) in CA - The conviction was for soliciting a police officer - even though she asked me!

Few questions regarding the expungement

1) Is it possible (and worth) reexamining the evidence before an expungement? (The lawyer who did my plea worked for the DA
and did not even examine the evidence and pressed to do the
plea)? Wondering if anythig can be done now to make my case
stonger..

2) Will the expungement allows us to seal all records to the public to the extent that when a criminal check is done online - NOT even the arrest record (and dismissal) is reported?

3) Will the fingerprints gets removed from the system? What happens to the arrest record?

4) Is it possible that FBI gets the fingerprints? Or the INS?

5) Is there any process that can be done to completely wipe out even the arrest record - after say couple of years?

I am looking at the best approach to take here to get this resolved. Not the cheapest way.

All ideas and thoughts and more importantly direct experiences
appreciated. If you are a lawyer and would take the case, please let me know that as well

 

[freebird]

I'm not 100% but this is what I have seen.

1) An expungement is not an appeal which would examine whether the verdict was wrong as a matter of law and could include a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel, basically that your counsel was incompetent. Expungement is the ability to remove the conviction from your record and free you to continue life without having to pay for such a black mark.

2) Sealing a record is different than expungement. I do not believe in CA that it will remove your fingerprints or the arrest record. It believe it merely notates your record stating that the case has been dismissed in the furtherance of justice. Cases that can be sealed are those which did not result in a conviction.

3) See #2.

4) The DOJ has your fingerprints on file.

5) I am unaware of a process that wipes out arrest records completely except for purging records, which which I believe is limited to misdemeanors and limited other circumstances.

Originally posted by folfriend2003
I am now looking to get a competent lawyer to get an expungement for a misdemeanor conviction (1 count) in CA - The conviction was for soliciting a police officer - even though she asked me!

Few questions regarding the expungement

1) Is it possible (and worth) reexamining the evidence before an expungement? (The lawyer who did my plea worked for the DA
and did not even examine the evidence and pressed to do the
plea)? Wondering if anythig can be done now to make my case
stonger..

2) Will the expungement allows us to seal all records to the public to the extent that when a criminal check is done online - NOT even the arrest record (and dismissal) is reported?

3) Will the fingerprints gets removed from the system? What happens to the arrest record?

4) Is it possible that FBI gets the fingerprints? Or the INS?

5) Is there any process that can be done to completely wipe out even the arrest record - after say couple of years?

I am looking at the best approach to take here to get this resolved. Not the cheapest way.

All ideas and thoughts and more importantly direct experiences
appreciated. If you are a lawyer and would take the case, please let me know that as well