Certain individuals who have been convicted of a felony can seek to have that felony vacated if they were convicted at least five years ago. The vacation of that felony will mean that the convicted person will no longer be expected to make mention of it on applications for housing, jobs, or other important life activities. The procedure involved with requesting to vacate a felony is very clear-cut, and any Michigan criminal defense attorney will likely have the skills necessary to assist felons with completing the process.
In Michigan, individuals who were convicted of a felony (which is a crime that carries a sentence of at least one year in prison) can seek to have that felony removed from their criminal records once a specific amount of time has elapsed. The process of removing that information is known as "vacating a felony," and according to a Michigan criminal defense attorney, certain felons who were convicted at least five years ago might be eligible.
To be clear, the vacation of a felony is not available to all felons. However, persons who weren't convicted of the most serious type of felony (a Class A), or a serious violent crime or a crime against persons might be eligible.
Additionally, individuals who were convicted of a Class B felony (at least 10 years ago) or a Class C felony that was at least 5 years ago can ask to have their felonies vacated. Also, those felons who don't have pending criminal charges and haven't been convicted of a new crime since the date noted on their Certificate of Discharge can ask a Michigan criminal defense attorney to help them with getting their felony vacated.
Step #1: Gather all necessary documentation. The individual seeking to vacate the felony will need:
Step #2: Have a Michigan criminal defense attorney create all required court documents needed to get the judge to consider the request. Such documents include:
Step #3: Get a date on the hearing calendar at the court that initially sentenced the felon, and inform the prosecuting attorney who took part in the case. Please note that according to criminal defense attorneys who practice in this area of law, this process can vary from court to court, so it�s always best to contact the court clerk and ask questions about their specific rules regarding the scheduling of hearings and notification of the prosecuting attorney.
Once all of the above-mentioned steps have taken place, the court will make its determination of whether or not to accept the request and clear the felon's record.
Chris Trainor is a top-rated Michigan criminal defense attorney who firmly believes in helping all individuals and providing them with the effective and skilled legal representation that they deserve. With 20+ years of serving Michigan residents, our knowledgeable criminal defense attorneys have recuperated over $200 million for our clients through thousands of cases. If you would like to receive more information about vacating a felony, contact Michigan DUI lawyer, Chris Trainor.
Michigan criminal defense attorneys are familiar with the three-steps that occur in the discovery process to obtain important documents and other information that is relevant to your case.
The first and easiest discovery method is for a criminal defense attorney to gain information through a voluntary disclosure from the prosecution. This usually occurs at the time of arraignment, and generally includes:
The prosecutor may also offer to make documentary evidence available to the defense.
The second way that criminal defense attorneys obtain information is through an informal request or demand for the information prior to filing a motion.
Some prosecutor's offices have a standardized form that a criminal defense lawyer can use to simply check the documents he or she wants. More specific requests can be made with a supplement to the form and/or a discovery letter from the defense lawyer.
If information has not been forthcoming, a criminal defense attorney can file a motion with the court for discovery.
Depending on the specific circumstances of the case, many courts will use their discretion to require the prosecution to provide some additional discovery.
To convince a judge that the prosecution should provide additional discovery, criminal defense lawyer make the following types of arguments:
Dealing with the prosecution to obtain information takes an experienced criminal defense lawyer. For help with your criminal defense, contact Michigan criminal defense attorney Chris Trainor.
