My mom recently enrolled in college for medical assisting. She has been working to get everything off of her background because everything has been from years ago. Some things, she has been able to get cleared, but there's one particular felony that she can't get off. She wasn't even convicted of it. The charge was dropped and it never made it to court. The State of Florida called her back to let her know that she cannot do anything to get that off of her record and she is heartbroken about it. She had to cancel her loans to help her pay for college because she isn't confident that she can go for anything decent that is within her knowledge. She has definitely been doing better and trying to work on bettering her life. What careers can she go in for that are somewhat similar to medical assisting, without a first degree felony on her record holding her back?
Charges often reflect, despite conviction. Even if someone isn't tried or convicted, the charge is still in the person's record.
She was charged with a felony and went to prison but the person dropped the charges because they lied, but it is still showing up on background checks.
I am still confused. How did she end up in prison without being convicted? Do you mean she was held in jail and couldn't post bail? Was she in there for different charges? And also, I don't think it is up to "the person" to drop the charges. The DA would be the one to drop the charges.
They may be using it interchangeably, you can be in Jail while innocent and awaiting trial if you can’t bail out for whatever reason.
Prison is the one usually for those convicted, but I think sometimes people may have to be at a prison due to occupancy.
She had just gotten out of prison when this happened and this charge was a few days later. Sorry for the confusion. I probably should have said that first.
Well I still don't understand. If she doesn't have a lawyer, she needs to get one to try to get that expunged whatever is going on because to me if she wasn't convicted of the felony, she really doesn't have one, which is an important distinction and the reason I asked. She won't get any kind of job in a hospital with a felony, but might be ok with a misdemeanor.
It sounds like the county file charges they were holding on her from other crimes, which they are able to do within anytime. Within like seven years, you're only allowed to legally get one felony expunged from your record permanently and that's a lengthy process of paying off records and going in front of a judge and paying a lawyer
Legally, you can only get one removed from your record permanently so she's over the limit
Well if they dropped the case and she was never convicted of the felony, there's no felony to expunge is there?
That’s what I was thinking too. She was never convicted. Maybe just the charge is showing up in her background check?
Exactly and Florida does not let them go, they stay there
Florida is such a backwards state. I can't even get started on all the issues they have. This doesn't surprise me though.
So if I was accused of murdering someone, they indicted me, but then dropped the case when the real killer cam forward, that charge could still be on my record?
Charges stay on your record and in Florida you can not have them cleared or expunged. This is a common issue.
Prison or Jail? They’re different.
Were there multiple crimes or something?
Nope just the one
Maybe you need to head over to r/legaladvice cause it's quite confusing. Perhaps some terms are getting mixed up cause you can't go to prison unless you've been convicted.
If she wasn’t convicted, there’s no conviction to remove. Employers legally cannot use arrests with no convictions for employment convictions, no matter what the arrest is for. If it is no longer pending, and charges were actually dropped (because if it’s a felony, the state is bringing charges and will still charge, ESPECIALLY in FL, even if the victim declines to press charges). It sounds like she was convicted and sentenced to time served. If she wasn’t, she has nothing to worry about.
I think you should find a criminal lawyer who can maybe help you get her record expunged. I would not trust the State of Florida to help you in any way.
No, that means she was actually still charged with it. They can only file things you were actually charged with.
This happened to my teenage brother. Commuted a crime and a school district pressed felony charges and he was jailed while awaiting their choice for a court date. He had to wait for 6 months until he was seen by a judge and then another 4 months for them to tell him that the charges were dropped
Adjudication witheld?
Try and get it expunged so it won’t show up on her record.
You can only get one felony expunged from your record ever and it sounds like she already has. These charges came later.
Start her own business
It’s free real estate
If she went to prison and not just county jail, she was convicted. If they "dropped" it after she got out because its a separate charge, it could've been ran concurrent with her previous charges or she took a plea deal. She can get one felony charge expunged but depending on the state she received the charges from, it must be non violent and cant be a sex charge.
If she was appointed a public defender or hired a lawyer, she should communicate with them about her charges if enough time has passed since she's been off community control.
I have previous F1 robbery felonies. I went into the trades. I'm currently safety manager, accounts payable, IT, and Human Resources. I make a decent salary.
Bouncing back and succeeding is absolutely doable. Since she is in the medical field, suggest to her to start out at a small private company for better chances of getting her foot in the door. Over time with experience she will have other doors open.
Trades. Lots of women are starting to go into trades and none of them care as long as you can prove you’re a better person. But charges do not show up without a conviction so something is off here.
Yes, charges from most states and counties in the US will show up on a background check, despite never having been convicted
You can run for president
US president
No, no. She wasn't convicted.
You're right. OP, tell your Mom to get convicted of a crime then run for President.
Honestly really depends on what the charges were for because a violent felony is very different than like a drug charge.
Right wing politics.
Apparently president of the United States
President
Maybe I’m just overly optimistic but I feel like if she commits to the school and completes the program that she would still be able to get a job in the field.
If she can demonstrate that she is rehabilitated and able to function in society after the fact that she was presented with all those challenges, it shows that she had to fight extra hard to overcome them, it shows she has unprecedented confidence in herself, and she bet on herself. Yes, there will be some hurdles and it’ll be harder than it would for someone with a clean record. But, if she’s up front about these things, so long as it isn’t a state or federal law prohibiting her from taking the job, now is absolutely the time to persevere and stay focused on her goal.
Life isn’t always easy but in my experience alone, 100% of the things I forced myself to stick through worked out quite well. Make a plan, execute it, stick with it, and it always works itself out. All I would say is check the laws and make sure it isn’t a position where felons cannot take it. Just be prepared to talk through what happened, and file appeals with HR/Legal teams of the places she wants to work. It surely can be done if she truly isn’t a felon at the end of the day.
Source: I was charged with domestic assault in a case where I was simply trying to leave an abusive relationship and my girlfriend at the time assaulted me and accused me of assaulting and raping her. Went to jail and everything for it. Cost a pretty penny. I got all charges dropped but it’s still on my record. So I have to answer to it frequently. I just never ever let it get in the way of my goals.
Wait, I think that may be bull. Seek a pro bono employment attorney.
Politics
Ironworker.
Truck driving
If there is no conviction then there is nothing stopping her from getting her nursing license. The background checks look for convictions. She was not convicted.
President?
POTUS is something you can do. You just need a shit load of money.
I think you need to reiterate what's happening here. If she wasn't convicted of the felony, then it should not be "on her record" or at least any record that would show up on a background check. What did she try to do to get it removed from her record?
She called a lawyer in florida (where it happened) and they apologized and told her because of the kind of charge it is that she cannot get it expunged. Florida is the most terrible state to get in trouble in.
Get what expunged? If she's not convicted then there's nothing to expunge. If it's an arrest record, then the lawyer is flat out incorrect, and she should speak to another one.
90% of people in prison are not convicted, they take plea bargains and are adjudicated, but not convicted
Can you elaborate? It's my understanding that an adjudication means that there's a conviction for all intents and purposes. A plea bargain is effectively a guilty plea.
What would an innocent person do if charged with a felony but offered a plea deal for a misdemeanor? Do you think they would take it to trial and risk going to prison and becoming a lifelong felon despite being innocent? But to answer your question, yes, being adjudicated guilty is (for most purposes) the essentially same as being convicted.
Lastly, in rare instances the judge will allow "adjudication withheld" and you can still get sentenced for a felony (such as prison or probation). That is a lot closer to innocent than an adjudication of guilt, but it's usually because the prosecutor just wants to wrap up the case as quickly as possible and it's just one more possible bargaining chip.
There's also something called an "Alford plea" where you plea guilty but still profess your innocence.
This is all sort of at odds with OP saying she "didn't even get convicted" because iirc, there are no cases in which an adjudicated plea would be ineligible to be expunged from someone's record. I know Florida is pretty restrictive about this kind of stuff, but it just seems unlikely to me that a lawyer would tell her that she's just shit out of luck on an adjudicated plea, unless we're missing half the story
She wasn't even convicted of it.
I was responding to this part of OP's comment, noting that plea deals count as adjudications, not convictions. It's a distinction I'm not sure OP is aware of, since the story doesn't make sense as-is, especially this part:
there's one particular felony that she can't get off. She wasn't even convicted of it. The charge was dropped and it never made it to court.
Manual labor for sure
I’m confused. This is an arrest, not an actual conviction. Unless she plans on working anywhere that does a level 2 background check, most basic background checks only look for convictions, not arrests since the person was not actually proven guilty of a crime. For reference, I have been arrested 3x (1 being a 3rd degree felony) and it does not show up on background checks, only my DUI (the one I pled no contest to) shows up. I could totally be wrong here but from my experience and the knowledge I thought I had, it should affect her. Please someone correct me if I’m wrong.
One, she shouldn’t take out loans for medical assisting. That course is free or very cheap at a lot of community colleges. My hospital even has a program where they pay you to get that.
She should look into getting her CNA and work at nursing homes. That course is also really cheap or free. They really need people and I am pretty sure some of my coworkers in those had records. Don’t know all the details there though. If her record is still an issue, she could work as an unlicensed aide at many places.
Unless it's a drug charge.
She need to get a lawyer. That way they can see the records and know exactly what happen.
Lots of background checks only check for the last 7 years.
She should be able to find jobs as an MA with drug addiction centers. They want to hire ex addicts that can relate to the patients. Due to that they will hire ex felons.
You might be able to get the records of the non conviction expunged.
Social work is a legitimate route. I did it. That career is not only accepting of felons but actively embraces.
Social workers often work in hospitals if that is appealing!
A local sub said electrician/ construction. Ask your local trade unions.
If she wasn’t convicted it won’t be used against her for employment, that is illegal. They can’t magically erase an arrest record, but that’s not what employers are looking at.
Ok in rereading the law (I helped a family member with this years ago) Florida does NOT expunge convictions. If you are convicted of ANY crime, you are ineligible for expungement or sealing. So many things about your post are not making sense. Especially saying she was charged with a felony, went to PRISON, but was never convicted. You don’t go to prison without a conviction, and even if the victim dropped the charges the state picks them up in Florida.
Shouldn’t she be able to have that sealed?
Būs 8. Uu. Uu7ul u7llï
Politics for one.
Drug dealer or president
Get a better lawyer. If it's impacting her ability to earn money it can get expunged.
It sounds like she's already had one expunged from your record which puts her at her lifetime limit of charges that she can have expunged as far as felony's go they do have a limit of 1
Ouch! I’m not sure you can’t plead to a judge and get it removed. They seem to be able to find “loopholes” if you have enough cash.
Well, I'll just stop us both right there and say that it's Florida and they don't allow anything to be expunged from your record there because that state so ass backwards that they're basically screwed
Government work.
Mafia?
Apparently being a president
Sales! Watch Andy Elliott’s videos on YouTube! He will teach you how to sell, the sky is the limit
I don't understand what is going on here. You say she has a felony on her record but wasn't convicted? How can she have a felony on her record without a conviction? Do you mean that the case was dropped or she pled down to a lesser charge but the arrest record for the felony is still there?