Criminal Defense Q&A: I Was Arrested for Several Crimes, but Was Convicted of Only a Few — Can I Seal the Charges that I Wasn’t Convicted of?
Question:
Will SB 393, 851.8 give remedy for dropped charges on cases ending in convictions? I am currently doing a 1203.4 dismissal on all my old cases. Some of those charges I was arrested for were really intended for the purposes of making anything stick. My question is: Is there any remedy for getting charges I was arrested for, but never convicted of, expunged from cases ending in amended charges resulting in a conviction?
Answer:
Unfortunately, you cannot remove those charges — the ones you were arrested for, but never convicted of — from your record.
Both Factual Innocence (under Penal Code 851.8) and the new law passed under Senate Bill 393 allow people to seal their arrest records. However, these post-conviction remedies apply only to arrests that did not result in a conviction.
From what you’ve described, it sounds like you were arrested during an incident, charged with several different crimes, and were ultimately convicted of some, but not all, of the charges, some of which may have been amended (read: different from the crimes you were originally charged with).
Because the charges related to your arrest ultimately resulted in a conviction, your only remedy is expungement (assuming you are eligible). Neither Factual Innocence nor Senate Bill 393 allow you to seal charges related to an arrest that ultimately resulted in a conviction.
Nevertheless, expunging your conviction is still beneficial — even if the charges that you were initially arrested for remain on your record. An expungement communicates that you were not sentenced to prison, that you took affirmative steps to complete your probation, and that you were able to rehabilitate to the satisfaction of a judge.
And, should you ever need to discuss your conviction, you can use the expungement and the fact that the charges were amended (possibly to less serious crimes) to present this past misstep as less egregious than it initially seemed.
Read other criminal defense attorney answers at Avvo: I Was Arrested for Several Crimes, but Was Convicted of Only a Few — Can I Seal the Charges that I Wasn’t Convicted of?
Attorney Michael J. Ocampo is a former deputy district attorney. He focuses his practice exclusively on criminal law so that he can help those accused of a crime — often ordinary, everyday people — ensure that their rights are honored and that they receive a fair opportunity to be heard.
