Q: Can a HYTA or automatic expungement recipient sue a newspaper to remove arrest article?
My son took his own life last year. 3 and a half years before that he burglarized 2 stores, was arrested, but entered into a HYTA bargain. 3 years later he had fulfilled his requirements and the charges were dismissed, had a job, owned his own house, had a dog and a girlfriend.
He lost his job for missing too many days, so he couldn't get unemployment. He applied at multiple companies who simply Googled him and saw the articles of his arrest and said they were not interested. We asked the media outlets to take them down, they wouldn't. After my son had to sell his home and move back with me and my wife, 3 months later he took his own life.
Considering the fact the case has been sealed from public view, my son is not a public figure and the newspaper has no way to prove the photos or arrest is actually true, can I sue them to take the pictures or the mention of my son's name down? The People of Mi have given him a second chance, why can news take that away?
A:
My condolences on the loss of your son. Unfortunately, particularly in today's internet age, the "bell" cannot be unrung. The media reported what was true at the time: your son's arrest. HYTA means that there was no conviction as part of the disposition; however, HYTA does not eliminate arrest records or any media reports.
Recall that HYTA is a diversionary program but does involve a guilty plea. In other words, your son admitted to facts that presumptive supported the media reports of his arrest. In exchange, and because of his youth at the time, the judge granted him HYTA so that he could lawfully say going forward that he had no criminal conviction - which would be the truth.
People are arrested and charged with crimes without an eventual conviction all the time. The media most often reports arrests because they are, well, news at the time. For example, the news would likely report a break-in at a notable local business and report that John Smith was in police custody as the suspect - which would be a true statement. Often times, they never report what happens to John Smith because the case is not otherwise newsworthy.
So unfortunately, you will likely not have much success in suing the media; you might convince a news source to remove the article from their website, but even with that, the way the internet works, it's probably be propagated on other sites and it will be nearly impossible to totally prevent it from ever coming up.
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