What Are The Long Term Effects Someone Might Have With Their Career After A Domestic Violence Conviction? How Public Is It And Can Those Ever Be Expunged Or Sealed In Arizona?
Table of Contents
The shorter answer on expungement or sealment, no, there is no such thing. In Arizona, we do not have expungement for anything. There was a case about 15 years ago that interpreted this statute on something called a motion to set aside, which people thought was an expungement, lawyers thought it was an expungement, lawyers including Thompson, but in that case, the Court of Appeals made it very clear there is no such thing as expungement – the records will always remain there.
A motion to set aside really doesn’t do much in the context of domestic violence, misdemeanor domestic violence It will remove any disabilities that might attach to the conviction, for example, the right to vote, but that’s not affected by misdemeanor domestic violence convictions, so a motion to set aside does not do much.
In fact, if somebody is found guilty, as was in another case, where somebody did it and they still were denied public benefits for having gotten a conviction; the case was probably public housing, they couldn’t get it, even though a motion to set aside was granted, so there is no expungement, a motion to set aside really doesn’t do much, if anything.
In terms of public records, Arizona, for better or worse, believes in public records, so for cases in many courts, most of them municipal courts, you can simply go online to the Arizona Supreme Court’s website and find out what the charge is. You can run it by the person’s name, the attorney’s name, for example, and you can see what convictions are there, you can see what the charge is, you can see if the charge was dismissed.
It’s listed just like any other charge, so it’s very easy for cases in a Municipal Court or Superior Court for somebody to find out the details of any criminal case. Justice court’s a real bit less because the information they have on there is not as much, meaning they wouldn’t necessarily have the charge but they would have the fact of a conviction.
In short, it’s very easy afterwards for anybody to find it simply by looking at publicly available websites. If the person is required to get a criminal history from the Arizona Department of Public Safety, then it will be listed on there even if the charge is dismissed. So, it is always fairly easy for people to find out about a charge even if it’s dismissed.
For the most part, most employers would be able to see it. It depends on the checks they run but clients should assume it’s there.
In cases that have been dismissed, taking the example if someone could be arrested and charged with murder this afternoon and if they’re held in custody for six months and the charge is later dismissed, legally it doesn’t mean anything.
If the charge is dismissed, they say the same thing, but having said that, they’re going to have to explain it as a point of the matter and it’s always there. In other states, Attorney Gordon Thompson is also a licensed attorney in New York, you can get it expunged, you can get it removed from the records and nobody can see it but not in Arizona.
What Effect Does A Felony Domestic Violence Conviction Have On Someone?
It wouldn’t matter if it’s domestic violence or any offense. In a felony offense, the person becomes a prohibited possessor, so they can’t possess a weapon under state law or federal law anyway, so it doesn’t matter. That’s an automatic.
In terms of misdemeanor domestic violence, it depends because under state law, there isn’t anything but under federal law, there is and under federal law, it has to be a crime. It’s a little narrower than it is under Arizona law, it’s got to be a crime of violence, meaning threats or an injury, assault with an injury and the domestic relationship is defined as a little bit more narrowly than it is under Arizona law.
For example, it doesn’t include romantic relationships, so if it’s a crime involving violence and it doesn’t have to be much, any kind of assault or threats, and it’s a little closer family relationship, then they are barred by law from having a weapon.
What Other Professional Licenses Could Be Impacted By A Domestic Violence Conviction Apart From Teaching?
Many. Going through it in terms of the ones that are directly affected, teaching would be the one example. Anybody that’s required under Arizona law to have a fingerprint clearance card is affected.
What happens is the filing of charges results in a suspension of the fingerprint clearance and it remains in effect while the charges are pending or if it’s guilt. It remains in effect at the very least until the person has completed the sentence, which would include counseling because if it’s “guilty”, they can apply for a good faith exception to the fingerprint clearance and they have to be rehabilitated; they can’t be rehabilitated until you have completed the counseling.
The fingerprint clearance card is affected if it’s “guilty”, it could be up to a year afterwards because they’ve got to complete all the counseling. The people that are subject to that would be teachers, real estate salespeople and brokers, anybody that works with children would be affected.
For example, daycare workers, people who work in the department of any government agency that deals with children, Department of Economic Security. Juvenile probation officers would probably be subject to it and several other professions, not medical care but several other professions and private investigators have got to have their fingerprint clearance cards.
For anybody that has to have a fingerprint clearance card, it’s a direct effect and it can be for a year or two years afterwards. People that are indirectly affected by it are healthcare professionals, so nurses, doctors etc. (not sure about veterinarians), but medical assistants, nurses, physicians, osteopaths, they are all affected.
Under Arizona law, they are required to notify their licensing boards within 10 days of an arrest for any charge and the agency can then impose discipline based on the fact of an arrest or a conviction and that can have devastating consequences.
Taking another example of a case which was indirect and analogous that happened a few years ago, Attorney Gordon Thompson represented a physician who was charged with soliciting an act of prostitution in the City of Phoenix.
Phoenix has a diversion program, and under the diversion program, a person pleads no-contest to the charge, they are not found guilty. They then complete a counseling program, which was very short in the case of soliciting the act of prostitution and then the charge was dismissed. He was required to report that to his licensing board and the medical board.
They didn’t suspend him, but they issued a reprimand or something but nothing major. What the real problem is because it was reported to the medical board, his malpractice company saw it and his malpractice company cancelled his malpractice insurance and he was looking at not being able to practice medicine, not because he was found guilty of the charge but simply because he was charged with it.
Although this case was 10 years ago, at the time the board didn’t make a distinction between a “conviction”, as it’s called in the medical board. They changed the rules to say if you plead no contest on a diversion charge, they are going to look at the underlying facts and the underlying facts were the person, who was Thompson’s client, did it. That was the basis for doing the discipline.
So, even if somebody that is not required to have a fingerprint clearance card, whether it is a doctor, the underlying conduct can be a basis of action against them and not reporting it can be further action because if the board eventually does somehow find out, then this simple act of not reporting the original conduct can be a basis for discipline as well.
In short, it can have very serious consequences against healthcare professionals, even though they are not required to have a fingerprint clearance card. Just looking at the underlying conduct, if they did a diversion, many nursing schools in Arizona, for example, the Community College of the Arizona State University, they will have, as a part of the nursing program, they do an internship with various hospitals, for example, Banner Hospital.
The hospital will require them to do fingerprints. Even though they’re not required to get a fingerprint clearance card, they are going to require a person to do fingerprints. If the charge shows up, then they can deny the person participation in their internship programs.
In short, it can have very serious consequences regardless of how the charge is and there may be other professionals that are affected. Again, if you have to have a fingerprint clearance card at the beginning, or secondly, if the conduct or a conviction would cause discipline under the rules of the professional license they have.
It seems similar to a ripple effect throughout someone’s life. A domestic violence conviction can have long term, very serious consequences.
To know more about How A Domestic Violence Charge Can Affect A Peron’s Career, call the law office of Attorney Gordon Thompson for a FREE initial consultation at [number type=”1″] and get the information and legal answers you’re seeking.