Curious

[rlrl]

What is the name of your state? NY. In NY when a defendant is charged with a criminal offense (felony or misdemeanor) but the arrest ends in a conviction for a non criminal violation(like disorderly conduct or harassment)via a plea deal or guilty plea, it is considered that "criminal action is terminated via conviction for a non-criminal offense" and then various criminal records(prints, DA and police records) are sealed.

What i am curious about is what happens when someone is charged with a violation like disorderly conduct or harassment (chargeable in the form of an arrest or a ticket--such offenses are not fingerprintable offenses) which I believe are the least serious offenses in the penal law in NY (they carry a jail sentence of up to 15 days). If they plead not guilty, I would assume they have a trial. But what happens if the defendant pleads guilty--what do they plead guilty to? Isn't the purpose of pleading guilty to plead down to a lesser offense? What would the defendant plead down to beneath the level of a violation? I assume if it were say a DWI crime(equal to or more than a .08 BAC) or a DWAI violation(less than a .08 BAC) the defendant could plead down to say reckless driving, a violation. But what would someone plead down to if they were charged with a violation like disorderly conduct or harassment? I assume they could get an ACD (adjournment in contemplation of dismissal)? How does this work?Or if they can't get an ACD, what do they plead down to?

No, I did not just get into trouble. I made a mistake one time 10 years ago (charged with misd, pled to a violation) but have been clean ever since. But since that time i always have legal questions about this type of thing.Always have been curious about this.