Don’t Qualify for an Expunge Due to a Prior Conviction? Maybe We Can Fix That

Florida will not let you seal or expunge a case if you have one tiny little conviction on your record. And by “tiny conviction,” I mean something you may not have even been arrested for. Still, this one conviction may be the only thing standing in the way of you getting a more serious offense expunged from your record. That’s what we’re going to talk about today, if this is your situation I’ve got some good news for you. There is some hope here.

With a bit of legal gymnastics, we may be able to get your record expunged. But, its got to be the right circumstances. Let me talk to you about what I mean by “the right circumstances.”

It goes something like this. Let’s say you want to erase a felony or maybe even a serious domestic violence case, and it was dropped, all of the sudden you can’t erase it because you’ve been convicted of this little tiny crime back in the day that maybe you were not even arrested for. So in cases like this, we go back to the court on the old conviction and we motion for that judge to change that conviction to a withhold of adjudication. We’re not turning over the whole case, we just want a withhold.

The key is, its got to be a small crime. And even better, if you didn’t have an attorney on that old case that’s probably going to help us out too. But, I won’t bore you with why that is right here. Anyway, if we’re going to attack an old criminal conviction, you’re probably asking yourself–what kind of old case are we talking about here?

I’m glad you asked. It’s going to have to be a small case, a small crime that’s blocking your path. And by “small,” I mean like a driving while license suspended, maybe a petit theft, a reckless driving, open container, disorderly conduct. There are many possibilities here, I cannot think of them all right this instant. But, you get the idea.

For our purposes, I’m not going to be able to turn an old felony conviction (as small as you think that may be), or an old DUI conviction. That’s not going to happen. Its got to be smaller than that. And if the old case had a victim, like an assault or battery. No, we’re not going to be able to overturn that conviction.

But, if your circumstances are a good fit, we’re going to be able to get with the prosecutor and we’re going to see if they’re going to agree to our little modification scheme to get you a withhold of adjudication. After all, all we need is a withhold on that old crime and we can open up the pathway to getting your more serious criminal history erased. Even if the prosecutor doesn’t agree, that’s ok. We can still win this. We’ll file the motion with the judge and request they change the adjudication of guilt to a withhold of adjudication.

And, if we succeed on getting the judge to withhold on your small misdemeanor that’s going to enable you to seal or expunge your record on the bigger case. That’s how it works. It’s a beautiful thing. I wish you luck on your quest and thanks for tuning in. Take care.