Steve reaches out to me about an old felony case from his earlier days. He tells me that when he was in his mid-20’s he got caught up with the wrong crowd and ended up doing some foolish things with his life.
Steve has a felony assault on his record and a marijuana charge from two different courts. He has had these on his record for over 10 years and is looking to put his history behind him.
These old cases have become more prominent in his life because he is looking to start his own business, and he may have issues with both a felony and a drug charge on his background check.
Steve’s story is quite common in my experience. People have a rough patch in their life, move on and have some success, but a ceiling in their professional life. It is not easy to advance and reach your goals with felony and drug charges on your criminal history.
Even though Steve is now a different man with a family, responsibilities, and no legal issues in over 10 years, his background tells a different story. The reality is nobody cares about your present with a history; they simply do not want or cannot give that person what they deserve.
If Steve can expunge these charges off his record, they will no longer come up in background checks, and his past will cease to exist to the outside world. That sounds like an amazing outcome for Steve, but how do we get to that goal?
Why should a felony assault and a marijuana charge simply go away? What is the standard and process for reaching this goal? Michigan says an expungement decision must be made within the context of “is it in the best interest of society?”
A judge must decide the merits of Steve’s request vs the outside world being “warned” and “informed” of his past. Is it worth allowing Steve to put NO CRIMINAL RECORD on an application? Is that the right thing to do for the company, agency or parties reviewing this information?
Steve is rightfully concerned that his past will forever haunt him, and nobody will give him the benefit of the doubt, so why would a judge? Best yet, it will be the same judge ten years later if still on the bench; it will also be the same prosecutor who charged Steve. The Attorney General also gets to weigh in, and the Michigan State Police.
Steve needs the judge, two prosecutors and the police to all agree to this outcome? That sounds like a steep hill to climb, but with the right plan and approach, anything is possible. I make sure Steve understands the hurdle we need to climb, but based on our conversation and the information he has provided me, I determine that he is a good candidate for this type of consideration.
The most important part is Steve does qualify for expungement. Steve has waited enough time since getting off probation (5 years) and qualifies in the amount of charges (1 felony max, 2 misdemeanor max). Just because he qualifies does not mean he is entitled to anything.
We need to take a very humbled and realistic approach to the situation. We also need to be mindful that nobody is in a rush to grant this relief; expungements take months, sometimes a year plus depending on the court, judge, and unique situation.
We also need to be proactive in our approach and do our best to highlight his growth over the past ten years, and his future. We need to focus in on that “best interest of society” for all the key players to review. We need to show that Steve had made legitimate change and the reason for the expungement makes sense for the community.
Steve agrees that it would be in his best interest to take a comprehensive and proactive approach to his case. We begin to work together on having both charges expunged. Steve’s case is unique in that the cases are from different courts with different prosecutors and judges; we need to keep all these different players in mind.
The first step is having Steve go back in time and re-examine the person he was back when these incidents happened. There is nothing to hide, the more details, information, and knowledge we can convey to the judge and prosecutor about Steve from ten years ago the better.
We then need to highlight and detail all the positive steps in Steve’s life over the past ten years. This includes new education, jobs, family, qualifications/achievements, community involvement and other positive moments in his life.
We need to show Steve at Point A ten years ago, and the timeline he traveled to Point B now. What does that journey look like?
Once we flush out this journey, we need to then highlight Steve going from Point B to Point C. That final point is where Steve is planning to go with his life; what is his next big step that he is being held back from? It must answer the question, if we expunge these cases, now what? Is Steve simply going to sit at home and be the same guy, or is there a next step in his plan?
Because Steve is starting his own business and would be disqualified from receiving licensing because of his past, we need to highlight this as part of his application. Make sure that this barrier is flushed out and clear to the people reviewing his case. We then need to show IF he can start his business, what does this mean for Steve, his family, and the rest of the community?
If Steve has his business open, are those benefits going to outweigh the downside of clearing his past from his history?
Once we have established the answer to the “best interest” question, we now need to shift our attention to what else can we do to enhance our application? Is there something we can do to give more confidence to the decision maker that the best decision is agreeing with our request?
For expungement cases, I like to add two unique elements to my client’s application. I like my client to be productive during the time of application, which might mean some community service work in the same city/county as the original case. I want to be able to show the prosecutor and judge that my client is still making amends for his/her past choices and has a strong interest in making the community better. It simply cannot hurt to do more; it may be that little extra gets the job done.
Next, we want to assist the judge in making the ultimate decision. The prosecutor(s) get to object, agree or leave the decision in the judge’s discretion, but ultimately the judge makes the final call if the client is eligible. If the judge is going to put his/her neck out there and clear my client’s record, we want to assist that decision in our favor.
We do this by having Steve meet with a third-party mental health counselor; someone who can sit down with Steve review the past ten years and make a recommendation if Steve is in the right mindset to move forward with his life. Based on that evaluation, is Steve someone who is likely to offend again, or has he made real changes?
Having a licensed mental health care professional recommend that Steve is prepared to move forward, and is a changed person, can give the judge confidence to simply “follow the recommendation”. If someone where to come back to the judge one day down the road and ask for justification for his/her decision to expunge, they can point to my client’s third-party recommendation as a foundation for that decision.
Because Steve has provided a detailed ten year timeline which shows his evolution as a member of society, and he’s agreed to do the extra community service, and sit down with a neutral third-party professional, he has put himself in a great position. We can now make a compelling argument to the judge why expungement is in the best interest of society.
Steve has a felony assault on his record and a marijuana charge from two different courts. He has had these on his record for over 10 years and is looking to put his history behind him.
These old cases have become more prominent in his life because he is looking to start his own business, and he may have issues with both a felony and a drug charge on his background check.
Steve’s story is quite common in my experience. People have a rough patch in their life, move on and have some success, but a ceiling in their professional life. It is not easy to advance and reach your goals with felony and drug charges on your criminal history.
Even though Steve is now a different man with a family, responsibilities, and no legal issues in over 10 years, his background tells a different story. The reality is nobody cares about your present with a history; they simply do not want or cannot give that person what they deserve.
If Steve can expunge these charges off his record, they will no longer come up in background checks, and his past will cease to exist to the outside world. That sounds like an amazing outcome for Steve, but how do we get to that goal?
Why should a felony assault and a marijuana charge simply go away? What is the standard and process for reaching this goal? Michigan says an expungement decision must be made within the context of “is it in the best interest of society?”
A judge must decide the merits of Steve’s request vs the outside world being “warned” and “informed” of his past. Is it worth allowing Steve to put NO CRIMINAL RECORD on an application? Is that the right thing to do for the company, agency or parties reviewing this information?
Steve is rightfully concerned that his past will forever haunt him, and nobody will give him the benefit of the doubt, so why would a judge? Best yet, it will be the same judge ten years later if still on the bench; it will also be the same prosecutor who charged Steve. The Attorney General also gets to weigh in, and the Michigan State Police.
Steve needs the judge, two prosecutors and the police to all agree to this outcome? That sounds like a steep hill to climb, but with the right plan and approach, anything is possible. I make sure Steve understands the hurdle we need to climb, but based on our conversation and the information he has provided me, I determine that he is a good candidate for this type of consideration.
The most important part is Steve does qualify for expungement. Steve has waited enough time since getting off probation (5 years) and qualifies in the amount of charges (1 felony max, 2 misdemeanor max). Just because he qualifies does not mean he is entitled to anything.
We need to take a very humbled and realistic approach to the situation. We also need to be mindful that nobody is in a rush to grant this relief; expungements take months, sometimes a year plus depending on the court, judge, and unique situation.
We also need to be proactive in our approach and do our best to highlight his growth over the past ten years, and his future. We need to focus in on that “best interest of society” for all the key players to review. We need to show that Steve had made legitimate change and the reason for the expungement makes sense for the community.
Steve agrees that it would be in his best interest to take a comprehensive and proactive approach to his case. We begin to work together on having both charges expunged. Steve’s case is unique in that the cases are from different courts with different prosecutors and judges; we need to keep all these different players in mind.
The first step is having Steve go back in time and re-examine the person he was back when these incidents happened. There is nothing to hide, the more details, information, and knowledge we can convey to the judge and prosecutor about Steve from ten years ago the better.
We then need to highlight and detail all the positive steps in Steve’s life over the past ten years. This includes new education, jobs, family, qualifications/achievements, community involvement and other positive moments in his life.
We need to show Steve at Point A ten years ago, and the timeline he traveled to Point B now. What does that journey look like?
Once we flush out this journey, we need to then highlight Steve going from Point B to Point C. That final point is where Steve is planning to go with his life; what is his next big step that he is being held back from? It must answer the question, if we expunge these cases, now what? Is Steve simply going to sit at home and be the same guy, or is there a next step in his plan?
Because Steve is starting his own business and would be disqualified from receiving licensing because of his past, we need to highlight this as part of his application. Make sure that this barrier is flushed out and clear to the people reviewing his case. We then need to show IF he can start his business, what does this mean for Steve, his family, and the rest of the community?
If Steve has his business open, are those benefits going to outweigh the downside of clearing his past from his history?
Once we have established the answer to the “best interest” question, we now need to shift our attention to what else can we do to enhance our application? Is there something we can do to give more confidence to the decision maker that the best decision is agreeing with our request?
For expungement cases, I like to add two unique elements to my client’s application. I like my client to be productive during the time of application, which might mean some community service work in the same city/county as the original case. I want to be able to show the prosecutor and judge that my client is still making amends for his/her past choices and has a strong interest in making the community better. It simply cannot hurt to do more; it may be that little extra gets the job done.
Next, we want to assist the judge in making the ultimate decision. The prosecutor(s) get to object, agree or leave the decision in the judge’s discretion, but ultimately the judge makes the final call if the client is eligible. If the judge is going to put his/her neck out there and clear my client’s record, we want to assist that decision in our favor.
We do this by having Steve meet with a third-party mental health counselor; someone who can sit down with Steve review the past ten years and make a recommendation if Steve is in the right mindset to move forward with his life. Based on that evaluation, is Steve someone who is likely to offend again, or has he made real changes?
Having a licensed mental health care professional recommend that Steve is prepared to move forward, and is a changed person, can give the judge confidence to simply “follow the recommendation”. If someone where to come back to the judge one day down the road and ask for justification for his/her decision to expunge, they can point to my client’s third-party recommendation as a foundation for that decision.
Because Steve has provided a detailed ten year timeline which shows his evolution as a member of society, and he’s agreed to do the extra community service, and sit down with a neutral third-party professional, he has put himself in a great position. We can now make a compelling argument to the judge why expungement is in the best interest of society.
