Sealing Matters without a Conviction
The court will seal a defendant’s records in situations where the prosecutor pressed charges, but there was no conviction, as described in C.R.S. §24-72-705. This may mean that the case was dismissed, the defendant completed a diversion agreement, there was a deferred judgment, or the government dropped the charges. However, even some successfully completed deferred judgments are not able to be sealed, such as DUI’s or certain sex offenses.
Factors Preventing Sealing
A court may order records to be unsealed if the court convicts the defendant of another criminal act, as described in C.R.S. §24-72-703. If a criminal case involves more than one legal issue, the court may only seal an offense if all the convictions resulting from that case are eligible for sealing.
If the court states that a person still owes money ordered by the court, the court will not seal the person’s records. The court may choose to deny the expungement if the government subsequently accuses the person of another offense. The court typically refuses to seal convictions related to sex crimes, crimes against at risk adults including pregnant women, and other serious crimes.
Timeliness May be an Issue in Greely Expungement Motions
A defendant may be able to make a motion for the court to expunge or seal a conviction, but there are waiting periods that will change depending on the nature of the charges. For example, state lawmakers have moves to decriminalize the possession of some types of controlled substance. This is due to the fact that most people do not look at certain drug-related offenses as aggravated and a person with a drug conviction should not have that on their record for a lifetime. For petty drug offenses, as long as a person has waited for at least one year following the resolution of the case, a court may hear a motion for expungement. This waiting period will extend depending on the seriousness of the drug conviction, and some people may need to wait as long as ten years following the conclusion of the drug case to file their motions.
Expungement is also possible in cases where conviction occurred concerning a petty offense or municipal violation. An individual can ask a court to seal a record if more than three years have passed since the conclusion of the case. This is possible even if a person endured a conviction for another offense during this time. The lone exception is in the case of domestic violence charges where an individual must have kept a clean record for the length of the waiting period to be eligible for sealing their record.
