Misdemeanor Statute of Limitations
If you were arrested for a crime but the DA never ended up filing charges against you, you may be wondering if they ever will. You may also be wondering how long it will be before the DA is barred from filing charges. The statute of limitations is a law that says...
UPDATE: Misdemeanor Pretrial Military Diversion for DUIs
In my previous post regarding Penal Code section 1001.80 pretrial/ pre-plea military diversion, I wrote about a California Court of Appeals decision (VanVleck) holding that military diversion is unavailable to military veterans and current service members charged with...
Reducing a Felony to a Misdemeanor
Who's Eligible? The court's authority to reduce a felony to a misdemeanor comes from Penal Code section 17(b). If a person has been convicted of a felony that is a "wobbler" (a legalese term for a crime that could be charged as a misdemeanor or a felony), and that...
Prop 64 Resentencing for Marijuana Crimes
Prop 64 Allows People Convicted of Certain Marijuana Offenses to be Resentenced and Have Their Offense Reduced or Invalidated! Good news! If you were convicted of one of many marijuana crimes prior to the passage of Prop 64 (Nov. 2016), you may be eligible to have...
Veterans Diversion Under Penal Code 1170.9
Introduction In addition to pre-plea military diversion under Penal Code section 1001.80 for those charged with a misdemeanor offense, PC 1170.9 provides post-plea military diversion for those charged with probation eligible felonies and misdemeanors. Thus, 1170.9...
Infraction Expungement, Can This be Done?
Infraction expungement is possible, with the exception of most traffic infractions (like speeding tickets). This means for example that if you were cited for being a minor in possession of alcohol as an infraction, or for shoplifting as an infraction, you could get...
Butte County Juvenile Record Sealing
Juvenile Record Sealing In an age where increased competition means finding every possible way to set yourself apart from others, having a juvenile record can be fatal not only to your employment opportunities, but also your academic advancement, state licensing, and...
Are Ex-Felons Allowed to Vote? Yep!
There is a common belief that felons in the state of California are banned for life from voting. This is untrue. A person convicted of a felony is only prohibited from voting if s/he is: Currently incarcerated in a state or federal prison; or On parole for a felony...
Butte County Public Intoxication Diversion
If you're reading this, you or someone you care about has probably recently been arrested for public intoxication (drunk in public). You're now wondering how you or this person can get out of this nightmare. For some, there's good news. Public intoxication...
Butte County DUI Expungement
In previous posts I’ve explained basic California expungement law. For general eligibility requirements please visit: http://www.530attorneys.com/expungements/. Although my previous articles discuss what a California expungement is, it’s worth noting before...