Everybody makes mistakes, especially when they’re young. Sometimes people make serious mistakes, and they’re arrested and convicted of a crime. Idaho Code Section 19-2604 provides the opportunity of dismissal and expungement of a previous conviction. If you were convicted of misdemeanor driving under the influence in Idaho (DUI), and you successfully completed your sentence, it’s possible to have your conviction dismissed or expunged, especially if judgment was withheld or deferred. Although expungement of felony DUI isn’t permitted by 19-2604, upon the filing of a proper petition, a court is permitted to dismiss the conviction or reduce it to a misdemeanor conviction.
Case dismissed
A criminal conviction for a mistake that you made several years ago can interfere with a job, an education or housing. If you don’t act on it, the conviction will follow you for the rest of your life. If your record is expunged, or your conviction is dismissed, a private person will be unable to obtain any information at all about your case, other than the fact that it was dismissed. The court’s file is then sealed and no longer available for public inspection.
Am I eligible?
If you were convicted as a juvenile, you might be eligible for expungement, depending on the offense you were charged with, the offense that you were convicted of, your age at the time that you committed the offense and the conditions of sentencing. Whether you were convicted as a juvenile or an adult, you must be in compliance with every term and condition of your sentence. If you were placed on probation, you need not even complete your probation. You need only be in compliance to be eligible. If a person is found by a court not to be in compliance with his or her sentence, there will be no opportunity for expungement or dismissal. Anybody who was sentenced to a state prison isn’t eligible either. If a sentence involves retained jurisdiction the person is eligible for reduction of the felony conviction to a misdemeanor conviction, but a full order of dismissal isn’t an option. Section 19-2604 just doesn’t permit it.
Contact a Coeur d’Alene DUI Lawyer
If you’ve been convicted of DUI or any other crime anywhere in or around Coeur d’Alene, and you want to inquire about an dismissal or expungement, contact us, and arrange for an appointment. You’ve paid for your mistake, and you need that conviction off of your back. We’ll do everything that we can to help you get your life turned in the right direction.
