Motion For Finding of Factual Innocense
Sep 10, 2013OUTCOME: Victory
I represented a client that had been falsely accused and arrested for a theft charge. The case was never filed in court, but the arrest record still remained on her record. Some 20 years later, the arr ... est still haunted my client. Her and her husband had started a foundation to help needy children, and when applying for some form of state license, the arrest showed up. They were denied, unless the Department of Justice agreed to remove it from her record. The only way that the DOJ would remove it is if a Judge made a finding in court that my client was factually innocent of the charge, a very difficult task. Navigating the court system, arresting police agency, and the DOJ is always complicated. Each has their own procedures and requirements in order to even get a case like this on calendar in front of a Judge. I followed all administrative procedures until they were exhausted, then filed a briefed motion for a finding of factual innocence about my client. Against all odds, I was successful in arguing the motion in front of a Judge, who agreed that my client was factually innocent of the crime that she was arrested for. My client was able to clean her record and apply for her state license.
