San Dimas, CA asked in Criminal Law for California

Q: Is a felony conviction reduced ?filed to exspunge ,judge changed orig plea/of no contest/to not guilty&Dismissed .

Non violent crime , driving w/out owners consent . fulfilled all obligation .got 10mths local p.d trusty and 3yrs probation. 34 month on probation accused of writing a personel check,account in my name for insufficent fund. Since still on probation I recieved 10mnths house arrest & 3yrs prob. This finished in 2003. In 2007 I went back to court and asked for exspungment . Judge said because of a suspended sentence he couldnt but what he could do is change my original plea to not guilty and dismiss all cases. Does this remove the felony convictions ? thank u

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3 Lawyer Answers
David Philip Shapiro
David Philip Shapiro
Answered
  • San Diego, CA
  • Licensed in California

A: It might, but I would need more information as to what exactly the court did since he couldn't expunger under PC 1203.4 because of the suspended prison sentence.

Vincent Ronald Ross
Vincent Ronald Ross
Answered
  • Criminal Law Lawyer
  • San Diego, CA
  • Licensed in California

A: It is unclear from the information you provided what it was the judge actually did. Ordinarily, if you were granted probation, and probation was terminated on its own terms, then you would be eligible for relief under PC 1203.4, commonly called an expungement. It is not actually an expungement because it does not remove your criminal record. The legal effect of the PC 1203.4 relief is to have your plea of guilty withdrawn and your case dismissed. That sounds like what happened.

Robert Lee Marshall
Robert Lee Marshall
Answered
  • Criminal Law Lawyer
  • OROVILLE, CA
  • Licensed in California

A: A so-called "expungement" doesn't really expunge anything; it's a dismissal under Penal Code 1203.4, which adds a notation to the court's records saying the case was dismissed after successful completion of probation. It DOES NOT remove the felony from your record, and it specifically DOES NOT allow you to possess firearms, among other things. Note that one of the other posted answers is incorrect: the suspended prison sentence doesn't prevent the judge from granting a 1203.4 dismissal (as long as you didn't violate probation and actually get sent to prison). Suspending a prison sentence WOULD prevent you from getting certain felonies, known as "wobblers," reduced from a felony to a misdemeanor.

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