Q: I need to get an expunction in Texas. Why is it MY money and time that must pay for something that I didn't mess up?
I was arrested in 2007. I was in a vehicle with some friends who had drugs on them. We all got arrested and because they were 17, I was 18, the police said I was going to get the felony charge despite being in the back seat away from the drugs in the glove compartment. I didn't even know there were drugs in the car. This was confirmed when they went through our phones. I was released when two of my friends confessed and were bailed out by their parents. A year later and 3 months before entering the military I was arrested again, during a routine stop, for the prior arrest. The DA called me personally to tell me he was confused and after listening to my story, dropped the charges. I gained a Top Secret security clearance in the Army, and after leaving had trouble receiving my Texas Security License. I'm in school to be a nurse and have been told I need to have it expunged. Why exactly is it that I must pay for legal help and appear before a judge to fix something that I didn't screw up?
A: I'm sorry for your troubles. I think the best way to explain the "why of it?" is to tell you what a police office once told me when he pulled me over for speeding. I asked him, "Why me, there were many others in the group driving the same speed or even faster than me? He said, "Have you ever gone duck hunting?" "Yes", I replied. He said, "You ever wonder why a particular duck get shot and the others fly away?" Well that's the same situation we have, sometimes you fly away, ad some times you get shot down." That kinda made sense to me.
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