Arrested for felony but dismissed

[lnb198]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? New York State

Hi- i had one of those nightmarish scenarios you thought could only happen in the movies....

Arrested for felony after a noise complaint....the arresting officer charged me with assault and criminal posession of a deadly weapon- the weapon being my purse- yes my purse-. The person that they charged me with hitting did not file the charges, did not give a statement etc and I was entirely cooperative.

Charges were dropped by the DA almost immediately but now i have this horrific arrest record despite a dismissed case as NY law seals cases but not arrest records.

Job interview in progress for a major company, i have 3 ivy league degrees and a perfect record otherwise. At what point should I mention this? Even if they don't ask 'have you ever been arrested' i will have to submit to a background check and this will surely come up- what is the best way to handle this??? A lot of companies dont even do the full background check until after you have resigned from current job and started new one so i NEED to mention this but don't know when or how...i'm at round 3 but no application yet.

[LSCAP]

They're only suposed to ask, "have you ever been convicted...."

I don't know how, but get copies of the arrest and disposition.

If, somehow, it comes up, simply explain. Don't ever lie.
And you would have the papers to prove that it never went further than the DA.


Too bad that you've given no details. Like how did the noise complaint become a felony, and how did the purse become a deadly weapon.

Not saying it can't. Technically by NYS law a pencil could become a weapon, if the intent to use can be established.

[lnb198]

Thanks for your response.

I have copies of both the arrest and the disposition.

The purse became a weapon- and 'with intent to harm' based on the police officers decision to write it down. I'm also very realistic and honest but when you hear someone say "i've been on the sh*t end of the stick of you rich people my whole life" and then some how he said that i beat the person with my purse.

The person who was the officers subject of my beating said that he was not injured, did not claim to be injured, did not make a statement- he said that when EMT and police arrived bc of a neighbors call (due to my being passed out in the hallway) that the officer did not ask any questions- saw purse and shoes on one said of the hall and me in a heap on the other....

I saw the report he wrote and there are no statements- not even the person who called spoke with him. he wrote multiple times 'it appears that the defended through the purse across the hall causing harm'.

When they read the statement/charges at arraignment the judge laughed. And said to stop wasting his time. The officer was from what i heard given some sort of suspension for the way he wrote the report but i'm not really sure....

[lnb198]

besides at this point the details don't even matter- my concern is whether or not to volunteer this information if the question does not appear-

they ask you to sign & consent to a full background check. at which point i'm sure the arrest record will show. isnt it better to be upfront about it since it was completely dismissed??

the worst part is that most companies dont even do the full fingerprint check until AFTER you've started....so if i don't mention it can you imagine resigning from my current job, starting a new one- getting fired from the new one because of this...and then being unemployed??

[xylene]

You have 3 ivy league degrees.

You should consult a lawyer and reputation manager as to how to best handle this.

Also - given your high level of placement potential, there is no reason why you should be job searching solo. Enlist the help of a recruiter. Or at least your alumni career office.

[lnb198]

I know- on top of this I paid 7500 for an ny lawyer who has all but disappeared after the court appearance for dismissal. His law office literally ignores me now and I can't get sound advice. The recruiter I'm working with would not send a candidate in knowing this and alumni resources have indicated not to tell recruiter and to just write one sentence on the app about it bc it will come up in the background check. I'm going in for final round tomorrow and still haven't been asked to fill out an app. I would think its better to wait until after receiving an offer since I think companies have to go through a lot to use something like this...I'm just not sure and people who are not paid lawyers are reluctant to comment on this

[lnb198]

Finally some help....

After getting these stupid generic responses from my lawyer who is clearly reluctant to make any advisory statements, I finally heard back from an old colleague who runs a head hunting firm and is advising the following:

-obviously if question asked 'have you been arrested' i answer truthfully - 'yes, but it was dismissed by DA without any proceedings'

-do not volunteer the dismissed arrest. since i did nothing wrong and it was dismissed because it was acknowledged to be a mistake, i should not volunteer it.

-if arrest record shows up during background check (which is actually performed AFTER you start the new job...ugh!) then address it truthfully at that point since i have nothing to hide.

Caveat- there is always the possibility that a company can choose to terminate employment early on and because of a background check, but in this case where an arrest was dismissed prior to any proceedings, a company has to jump through a lot of hoops to fire someone. Can they fire you for other reasons at that point? Sure. But it's a risk i have to decide whether to take or not.

I'm absolutely terrified since if i resign from my current job and am terminated from a new one, that basically renders me helpless, but i'd rather find out now than when i'm 30 or something like that.

It's just really unfortunate that in New York State, you can have a case dismissed and sealed but you can not have an arrest record expunged like you can in other states. How is this fair?? How many millions of people are wrongly arrested for misdemeanor let a lone felony- and they have to keep that arrest record forever?!