What is the name of your state? New York.
Hi. I have a 9 year old record where I was charged with a class B misdemeanor but pled guilty to a violation, a non-criminal offense. I paid a $50 fine, received a conditional discharge. In a year the fingerprints with NY DCJS were destroyed, police and DA records sealed. This was as per NY CPL 160.55 (destruction of criminal records in the event of a conviction for a non-criminal offense).
My question is--what does it mean when they say the police and DA records are sealed? I understand about the fingerprints being destroyed--they do that so the defendant does not have a criminal record, but I am confused about the police records and DA records. To me those might be off limits to the public anyway even if there was a criminal conviction.
What does sealing do to the police and DA records? Since i have a conviction from that arrest, anyone can find out about it from the courthouse if they wanted to. So what is the difference between open court records and police and DA records?
RLRL
Hi. I have a 9 year old record where I was charged with a class B misdemeanor but pled guilty to a violation, a non-criminal offense. I paid a $50 fine, received a conditional discharge. In a year the fingerprints with NY DCJS were destroyed, police and DA records sealed. This was as per NY CPL 160.55 (destruction of criminal records in the event of a conviction for a non-criminal offense).
My question is--what does it mean when they say the police and DA records are sealed? I understand about the fingerprints being destroyed--they do that so the defendant does not have a criminal record, but I am confused about the police records and DA records. To me those might be off limits to the public anyway even if there was a criminal conviction.
What does sealing do to the police and DA records? Since i have a conviction from that arrest, anyone can find out about it from the courthouse if they wanted to. So what is the difference between open court records and police and DA records?
RLRL