| Details are everything. The real concern here is not the misdemeanor but the underlying incident (which apparently included possible felony charges). Getting a security clearances is not like a criminal trial, where you have many rights and safeguards. A clearance can be denied/revoked for absolutely no reason at all (though policy usually prefers that one be given). Your investigator is not limited to convictions or even charges. S/He can and will deal with rumors and even rumors of rumors. That you weren't prosecuted on the felony is fine, but the investigator will likely read police reports and possibly interview people. Unlike criminal investigators, however, they are not confined by "rules of evidence", etc.
If it was an isolated incident and the investigator agrees that harsher charges were not warranted, you are probably home free. However, if they decide that you did do the felony (whether or not you were charged with it), it is another ball game. If the incident included violence or drug use, particularly bad (once again, not just what was charged). If the investigator finds evidence of a pattern of misconduct, you are very bad off.
There are people who are found "not guilty" on all counts at trial, but who have their clearances revoked. Prosecutors are only interested in what they can *prove* in a court of law. Clearance investigators have a vastly lower level of proof and much wider latitude to gather evidence. | 
07-15-2005, 10:14 AM
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