Bothered by a really old criminal conviction or guilty plea? Many people plead guilty to crimes that were mistakes of yesteryear, but not reflective of who they are today. Expungement is the process of sealing that criminal conviction, but, it is widely underutilized.
Minnesota's law is against expungements. Expungement of a criminal record is an extraordinary remedy to be granted only upon clear and convincing evidence that it would yield a benefit to the petitioner commensurate with the disadvantages to the public and public safety of:
(1) sealing the record; and
(2) burdening the court and public authorities to issue, enforce, and monitor an expungement order.
Minn. Stat. § 609A.03, subd. 5(a) (2016)
The heavy burden of clear and convincing evidence is the biggest hurdle. But, balancing that burden is the fact that the benefits to be gained by the petitioner is not of a particular standard. That is, the benefit could be quite mild and potentially still fit the statute.
The process for pursuing an expungement is pretty simple, but presenting the correct arguments and prevailing requires help. If you have a malingering criminal conviction on your record, let's find out if I can help get the record sealed.
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