Criminal Defense Attorney Alex Lane helps people keep the past, in the past.

GET YOUR FELONY OR MISDEMEANOR CONVICTION SET ASIDE

Sometimes good people make mistakes.

If you had the means to reduce the negative impact of your conviction, would you do so?

You've paid the price for your actions. Now that time has passed, you want to get a good job, make a decent living, take care of yourself and your family, and move on with your life. You don't want the past interfering with your future. If you've been convicted of a crime, then you know how your record can impede employment opportunities, restrict housing availability, and limit licensing, permitting and certifications.

Why You Should Seek to Set Aside Your Conviction

In Arizona, an individual can seek to have a conviction "set aside" under certain circumstances. Setting aside the conviction won't make your record disappear, the criminal record is still there and can be used again. But the record is changed with a set aside, to something positive, different, and very useful. With a set aside, your criminal record is improved - the harmful negative effect is lessened. When your criminal conviction is set aside, you're in a much better position to put the past in the past, and move on with your life.

If our motion to set aside is granted and your conviction is set aside, this is the result:

The judgment of guilt against you is set aside, the charges are dismissed, and the penalties are released along with the disabilities. After a set aside of your conviction, you can assert that your conviction "has been vacated and the charges dismissed." Those magic words can mean the difference between getting hired, and not getting hired - between being accepted, and being rejected.

Set Aside Felony and Misdemeanor Convictions

A request for a set aside conviction in Arizona is available for prior felonies and misdemeanors. Setting aside a conviction will not erase the past charge from your criminal history or record, but it will change it in a very significant way. If an employer checks your record, for example, then the original charge and conviction against you will still be there, but so will the set aside order vacating and dismissing that conviction.

The set aside may release you from the disabilities and penalties resulting from the conviction. Your record after a set aside will show that you completed all the requirements of your conviction, that the court vacated the judgment, and that the charges have been dismissed.

Restoring Civil Rights and Gun Rights

If you've been convicted of a felony, some of your civil rights were suspended: the right to vote, the right to hold public office, the right to serve on a jury, and the right to possess a firearm. A set aside conviction may be used to help restore your suspended civil rights. When a request to set aside a felony conviction is filed, separate requests to restore civil rights and gun rights may be filed simultaneously.

Both felony and misdemeanor convictions can be set aside. With a misdemeanor conviction, the set aside is less significant than with a felony conviction because misdemeanors are lesser offenses. The set aside may still be useful, though, with a misdemeanor drug conviction which often interferes with potential employment, housing opportunities, and other applications.