What is required to get an 11-year old misdemeanor charge expunged? Can I do it myself?
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What is required to get an 11-year old misdemeanor charge expunged? Can I do it myself?
The charge was for receiving stolen property. It was settled as a misdemeanor 11 years ago. Do I need to hire an attorney to clear this or can it be done some other way? Thanks.
Asked on April 2, 2019 under Criminal Law, California
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 5 years ago | Contributor
In your state, you can expunge a misdemeanor if you never served time in a state prison for it (e.g. no imprisonment, only probation and/or fines, and/or if you were imprisoned, it was in county jail, not state prison), you completed whatever sentence you had at least 2 years agok, and you are neither currently charged with nor serving time for any criminal offense, so your offense may well qualify (depending on how you were punished for it).
The law and procedure can be somewhat complex; you are better off retaining an attorney to help. But you are allowed to seek to expunge (there are actually several different options which together can be thought of as "expungement") your record yourself. Here is a link to a CA court website you may find helpful: https://www.courts.ca.gov/1070.htm
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