Sealing & Expungement - Tampa Criminal Defense Lawyer Lori D. Palmieri

Palmieri Law http://tampacriminaldefenselawyer.com video

Criminal Defense Lawyer Lori D. Palmieri explains what sealing and expungement are, when either could be an option and what the processes entail.

"Several ways that different cases can be resolved are obviously, payment of fines and court costs, serving periods of supervision which is probation or sometimes community control. And then hopefully, the last resort is some period of incarceration whether in county jail or in state or federal prison.

A lot of folks have a question about having picked up a charge, for instance possession of marijuana or petty theft, and the state fails to pick up that charge and charge them formally. They think that because the charge was never filed, that somehow this arrest record is erased from their criminal history. And that is just false.

That is the reason why, despite having the good fortune of not having those charges filed against you, you still need to go back and go through the formal expungement or sealing process whatever the situation may be.

The process of sealing and expungement is essentially identical. Some of the requirements for each are different. First, an expungement requires that the charge either was dismissed by the court or by the prosecutor. So that's the first requirement.

A sealing normally is involved in a case where a person pleads guilty or no contest to a crime that is otherwise eligible to be sealed. They serve some sort of period of supervision or probation and they successfully terminate that -- and can later seal that record.

Most violent crimes cannot be sealed regardless of what type of sentence someone received. Things like drug trafficking, robberies, burglaries, aggravated batteries, things like that, regardless of how the person has resolved that case, they're not going to be able to seal that from public view going forward.

On the other side, even with a serious crime, if the prosecutor or the court dismisses that charge against a particular client, that person can, going forward, if they are otherwise eligible, expunge that record.

The primary requirement for either is that the applicant cannot have ever been adjudicated guilty or convicted or adjudicated delinquent as a juvenile of any criminal offense anywhere in the world.

So most folks say, "I haven't had a problem in Florida before. Doesn't matter, if you have a problem in Colorado or Massachusetts, it's going to follow you. Those criminal records are going to be found. So, that's the singular criteria that we hone in on with the client to determine in just a few minutes if you are eligible. So that's why I encourage people to call the office. My paralegal is very well versed in these laws and she can tell you in a matter of moments whether we can do this process for you."

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