EXPUNGEMENT OF CRIMINAL CONVICTIONS
Long Beach Law Office
444 West Ocean Avenue
Long Beach CA 90802
California Law permits a person to withdraw his or her guilty or no contest plea after a
person has successfully completed probation.  In order for a person to qualify for this
"expungement" relief he or she must satisfy a number of conditions.  Most  importantly is
the condition that they complete their probationary grant successfully. This means that
they must pay all fines and fees ordered by the Court, and all restitution must be paid to
any victims.  The individual must not have violated the terms of their probation in any
way, for example the person seeking the expungement must not have sustained any new
conviction or have been arrested for any new offense while on probation.

The next condition is that they had not been convicted for any offense excluded by
statute that bars an expungement of the case.  The offenses commonly barred are sex
offenses listed under 290 of the Penal Code such as child molestation.  Notably, the
California Appellate Court ruled in December of 2006 that crimes of "attempt" such as
attempted child molestation can be expunged under California Law.  Which offenses fall
under the exceptions are limited and an Attorney should be consulted to ensure the
particular crime qualifies.  Many people are unaware of the fact that they can obtain
relief from the lifelong stigma of a criminal conviction or arrest.

Once the conditions have been met, the next step is to file the petition with the Long
Beach Superior Court requesting that the conviction be expunged from the defendant's
record.  Most Courts require fees be paid to file the legal petition, in addition the petition
must be in the proper legal form and must be served on the appropriate agencies in
order to be reviewed by the Judge.  A local Long Beach Lawyer should be retained to be
sure the petition for expungement is filed correctly.  In many cases a judge will reject an
otherwise meritorious petition because the form was not completed properly or some
technical rule was not followed.

Once the petition for an expungement has been granted by the Court, the person can, in
most cases, state that he or she has not been convicted of a crime for purposes of
private employment.  In effect the case will have been dismissed.  For more information,
please refer to Penal Code 1203.4.

We serve: Long Beach, San Pedro Attorneys, Wilmington, Compton, Seal Beach, Harbor
City.