Some interesting news from New York State regarding record sealing. It appears the Bar Association is pushing for legislation that would allow those convicted of most misdemeanors and minor felonies to have their record sealed after after a statutory waiting period (five years for misdemeanors and eight years for felonies). Any Denver criminal defense lawyer will tell you that it's considerably harder to get your record sealed in Colorado. Basically no convictions can be sealed except for deferred judgments (which technically aren't convictions at all, they are dismissals) and a narrow set of minor drug related offenses. Denver criminal defense lawyers also would bemoan this policy, and with good reason. I don't see how it serves any real purpose.
For some reason the District Attorneys of New York are opposing this rule change. Again I have no idea how anybody is served by giving those convicted of minor offenses a lifelong criminal record. It seems pretty unlikely that this would have any deterrent effect. If you're not deterred by jail time or hefty fines, how would you be deterred by the possibility of it coming up in a background check when applying for a job 10 years later? And it's not like these crimes are going to indicate serious moral short comings. The New York law specifically excludes any crimes against the elderly or against children, and as stated above it's limited to relatively minor offenses.
I suppose an argument could be made for transparency. Employers may have a right to know if people they are about to hire has kept his nose clean. But that's pretty hard to justify in light of our other policies. Don't juries then have the right to know about all the evidence that's been suppressed at trial? Or about the defendant's criminal history? It just seems like the state makes these sorts of decisions all the time, and really the criminal record is more a form of continued punishment than any sort of transparency mechanism.
Monday, January 30, 2012
Friday, January 27, 2012
Denver criminal defense lawyer / deferred judgments
A common plea agreement that Denver criminal defense lawyers can negotiate for their clients is a deferred judgment. This is somewhat confusing for a lot of defendants. What in the world is it? Basically this is a situation a defendant pleads guilty on the condition that he will not actually be sentenced for the crime. The court takes the guilty plea in open court on the record, but does not make the judgment final or "enter" the judgment. The judge also does not sentence the defendant. Instead, the judgment and sentencing are deferred for a certain period of time. At that point, if certain conditions are met, the case can be dismissed.
Functionally, this whole thing appears a lot like probation. The conditions involve things like community service, and not committing additional crimes for a stated period, a year or six months. Your Denver criminal defense lawyer can advise as to the actual consequences. In any case, even though it resembles a probationary sentence, if the conditions are fulfilled the case can be dismissed, unlike in the case of a probationary case where it is actually a conviction.
Because the conviction is never finalized and because there is technically no sentence, sometimes these cases are eligible for record sealing. Again, your Denver criminal defense lawyer can advise you on the possibility of this. However this is not an option in every case, so you should learn about it before you plead guilty and accept the deferred judgment. Although a conviction will not show up on your record, the police records and charges will. For some people this will be problematic, and record sealing can help with that. For others it will be no big deal.
In any case, the big things with deferred judgments are to know and follow the conditions of the judgment, and also know the exact consequences of your deferred judgments. Because like with just about everything else, every deferred judgment case is different.
Functionally, this whole thing appears a lot like probation. The conditions involve things like community service, and not committing additional crimes for a stated period, a year or six months. Your Denver criminal defense lawyer can advise as to the actual consequences. In any case, even though it resembles a probationary sentence, if the conditions are fulfilled the case can be dismissed, unlike in the case of a probationary case where it is actually a conviction.
Because the conviction is never finalized and because there is technically no sentence, sometimes these cases are eligible for record sealing. Again, your Denver criminal defense lawyer can advise you on the possibility of this. However this is not an option in every case, so you should learn about it before you plead guilty and accept the deferred judgment. Although a conviction will not show up on your record, the police records and charges will. For some people this will be problematic, and record sealing can help with that. For others it will be no big deal.
In any case, the big things with deferred judgments are to know and follow the conditions of the judgment, and also know the exact consequences of your deferred judgments. Because like with just about everything else, every deferred judgment case is different.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Denver criminal defense lawyer / out of state traffic offenses
One question a lot of folks have for me as a Denver criminal defense lawyer is what happens to your driving record if you commit a traffic offense out of state? Basically, the process is split into two parts. A Denver criminal defense lawyer can help with either. The part with the DMV is treated more like a regulatory crime. This is where you may or may not lose your driver's license. A state's DMV only has the power to regulate driver's licenses issued by them.
By contrast, the criminal aspect of the case is where a court can hand out fines and prison time. If you are from out of state and commit a crime in Colorado, you will be subject to the jurisdiction of the state of Colorado and the court for whichever county or district that crime occurs in. That means out of state defendants should hire a Denver criminal defense lawyer to aid in their defense.
On the other hand, the Colorado Department of Revenue (the department that runs the Colorado DMV) only has control over Colorado drivers licenses. That doesn't mean an out of state driver is off scot free. Colorado and most other states participate in the Driver's License Compact. That means they report any crimes or violations to the state where the license was issued. That state's DMV or Department of Revenue or corresponding department decides how to handle the suspension or lack thereof. Although most states have pretty similar traffic laws, they aren't all the same. That means that it's important for you and your criminal defense lawyer to know the consequences of the conviction in one state on your driver's license in your home state. Otherwise a defendant can end up with a nasty surprise in the form of either a license suspension he didn't see coming, or an increase in insurance rates due to extra points.
By contrast, the criminal aspect of the case is where a court can hand out fines and prison time. If you are from out of state and commit a crime in Colorado, you will be subject to the jurisdiction of the state of Colorado and the court for whichever county or district that crime occurs in. That means out of state defendants should hire a Denver criminal defense lawyer to aid in their defense.
On the other hand, the Colorado Department of Revenue (the department that runs the Colorado DMV) only has control over Colorado drivers licenses. That doesn't mean an out of state driver is off scot free. Colorado and most other states participate in the Driver's License Compact. That means they report any crimes or violations to the state where the license was issued. That state's DMV or Department of Revenue or corresponding department decides how to handle the suspension or lack thereof. Although most states have pretty similar traffic laws, they aren't all the same. That means that it's important for you and your criminal defense lawyer to know the consequences of the conviction in one state on your driver's license in your home state. Otherwise a defendant can end up with a nasty surprise in the form of either a license suspension he didn't see coming, or an increase in insurance rates due to extra points.
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