Will dismissed charges show in background check? : I was arrested and charged a few times but charges were dismissed. What can I do to clear it up ?
Rudolph’s answer: Once someone is charged in North Carolina with a crime, there becomes a "record" of that crime within the North Carolina court system. The only way to get ride of that record of an alleged crime having been committed is through the expunction process. Dismissed charges can always be expunged. Recently, our General Assembly has made significant changes to the expunction process to now allow a person to expunge all dismissed charges if they so desire. I would suggest talking to a criminal defense attorney in the county where the charges were pressed, and discuss with them getting the court records of the dismissed charges expunged so that there will no longer be a record of even the charge itself.
Will i get in trouble for moving out of state and letting my 17 year old stay here to finish school?: we have to move for jobs purposes and my son is 17 and will be graduating this year and will be 18 in january but we will be moving out of state in sept. and he wants to stay here and not move with us. will i get legally in trouble if he stays here with his best friend and his family. or should i just have him move with me and him come back in jan.when he turns 18 ?
Rudolph’s answer: No. It's probably in your son's best interest to finish high school with his friends. It's also something that he would likely want to do. Only you know the maturity level of your son. If you are concerned about his maturity, or concerned that someone would reach out to DSS, then you can sign for a joint temporary custody agreement with your son's friend's parents where he will be residing. They can be there for his educational and health related needs prior to his turning 18. The agreement will terminate once he is 18 years old.
Could a different misdemeanor citation charge from a previous citation still count as a first offense ?: I recently received a charge for a misdemeanor possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia on the same citation ticket. I previously had a citation (dismissed) but for possession of alcohol. Would the possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia be considered a first offense since it's a different charge than the alcohol possession ? Or no ? If so what is my best bet to plead, in order to avoid conviction and lessen the charge if possible ?
Rudolph’s answer: You would qualify under the first offenders program pursuant to N.C.G.S. 90-96. Under G.S. 90-96, a first time drug offender is afforded the ability to have his drug offense conditionally discharged, after his guilty plea, and would then be ordered to complete a Drug Education School class, pay court costs, possibly perform community service fee, and remain law abiding for 12 months. However, the 90-96 conditional discharges are handled differently depending in what prosecutorial district you are in. You could have anything from 6 months unsupervised probation to 12 or even 18 months of supervised probation. It all depends on your district. You should hire a lawyer to first see if you would need to go the 90-96 route. The lawyer may be able to get the case dismissed without going through the formality of a 90-96 conditional discharge, and the local district court could have a local deferred prosecution agreement for misdemeanor drug cases where you can have a shorter time period before the case is dismissed. It really is all about what prosecutorial district you are in.