Starting 2025 clean is a worthy goal for many people if possible. Very few of us have an absolutely clean slate. It may be a parking ticket, a misdemeanor from way back in our past or something more serious and current. Regardless, there are countless ways a person can end up with some kind of criminal record. Depending on the type of crime and the status of the court proceedings, there are different ways to try to obtain or maintain a clean record.
Keeping Criminal Activity to a Minimum
This may seem kind of obvious. But like we said at the beginning, very few people go their whole life without ANY criminal activity. Almost everybody has been pulled over for speeding or seen some trouble for unpaid parking tickets. Many times, criminal consequences just seem to sneak up on law-abiding citizens. But at the same time, many people find themselves tempted at one time or another by deliberate acts that go against the law. While the Crime in Ohio Report did show crime in Ohio trending downward (between 2017-2022), there are still many Ohioans finding themselves on the wrong side of the law.
But minimizing criminal activity also has to do with how you act after the authorities suspect you. Sometimes people try to resist or elude the police, which adds criminal charges on top of the original suspected crime. Other times, people have the opposite problem. In an attempt to show remorse or understanding to the police, defendants sometimes say things that end up hurting their case. It is usually better to say as little as you legally can to the police until you can have a lawyer present.
Seeking Sealing and/or Expungement
The laws on sealing and expungement changed several times in very significant ways in recent years. It is still true that some criminal record cannot be sealed or expunged. But there are many records that are eligible for sealing now which would have been ineligible back in 2017. And some adult records are eligible for expungement now, which was rarely ever the case before 2023. We have written extensively on the ins and outs of expungement if you are interested in that particular topic.
Handling Current Proceedings the Right Way
If you are currently, or find yourself in the future, fighting criminal charges, you will want to be careful how you proceed. Different cases have different considerations. That is why it is best to listen to your attorney, whether the court appoints you an attorney or you retain one yourself. We have seen all types of cases with many different types of outcomes in over three decades of experience. If you are interested in retaining private counsel to help you get a clean start to 2025, feel free to contact Dearie, Fischer & Martinson!
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