domestic simple assault

[m1ch3ll3]

In June of 2009 I was convicted of a domestic simple assault. My boyfriend at the time became violent with me and gave me a black eye, so I punched him several times and split his eyebrow open and choked him out. By the time the cops showed up I had put an end to his violence. He had just gotten out of jail like 2 weeks before that on the same charge. He was the one who started the altercation I just finished it and plead guilty to the charge. But now I am currently pursuing an Associates Degree in Criminal Justice and have moved out of state to get away from his violence. Is there a way that I can get this charge expunged off my record and will that affect my career in criminal justice?

[Citicop]

In June of 2009 I was convicted of a domestic simple assault. My boyfriend at the time became violent with me and gave me a black eye, so I punched him several times and split his eyebrow open and choked him out. By the time the cops showed up I had put an end to his violence. He had just gotten out of jail like 2 weeks before that on the same charge. He was the one who started the altercation I just finished it and plead guilty to the charge. But now I am currently pursuing an Associates Degree in Criminal Justice and have moved out of state to get away from his violence. Is there a way that I can get this charge expunged off my record and will that affect my career in criminal justice?

It depends on what you want to do in "Criminal Justice."

Anyone convicted of the crime of Domestic Violence is prohibited under Federal Law from possessing a firearm, so obviously it would be a very serious hinderance to you becoming a Law Enforcement Officer.

In my state, you would not be eligible for an expungment, and even expunged records are available to Law Enforcement Agencies during background checks, so it would be a no go for you here. Other states have different rules.

You probably need to discuss this with a lawyer, but best case scenario is a long uphill battle with little chance for success if you want to be in Law Enforcement.

Hope that helps-

-Citicop.

[retdetsgt]

My boyfriend at the time became violent with me and gave me a black eye, so I punched him several times and split his eyebrow open and choked him out. By the time the cops showed up I had put an end to his violence.

I hate to say it, but that made my whole day!

The bad news is you should have never taken him back when he got out of jail. The other bad news is, DV is obviously a scary conviction for someone wanting to be a police officer to have. DV is generally a pattern in someone's life and a headache departments just don't want to tolerate.

As Citicop said, talk to your lawyer and see what you can do within your state laws. Unfortunately, that few minutes of satisfaction is going to be costly. Good luck.

[QldCop]

Here, if you have a DV Order in place and you're what we call the "Respondent" in the matter and your an LEO... you've lost your ability to carry a firearm for 3 years, whilst the order is in place.
Unless an Assault complaint or another charge linked with the Domestic Violence has been made against you, a DV Order here is only a Civil Matter, Nil Criminal Charges.

[mcsap]

It isn't a matter of what you did , rather it is a matter of what you pled to or were found guilty of.

DV looks BAD for any LE applicant.

If it isn't an auto DQ , you will at least be shuffled to the bottom of the pile.

FEW people apply to work in LE with any kind of DV background. There are just too many others who have no such issues.

[DeltaV]

As Citicop stated, with a domestic violence conviction you can't legally possess a firearm. That makes you ineligible to be a law enforcement officer. You may be able to get a job as a dispatcher or some other unsworn position, however you aren't going to be able to work in any job where you have to carry a firearm. This pretty much means any sworn LE position, except for maybe a select few around the country that are unarmed. Even if you were eligible, you'd would be competing against hundreds (if not thousands) of other applicants who have never been convicted of a crime. That means your chances aren't very good.

Domestic violence convictions may be able to be expunged in some states, but I believe that they're not eligible for expungement in most. You'll need a governor's pardon, which is much harder to obtain. If you can get the conviction expunged, you're definitely going to have to wait a while to do so. Usually you're going to need several years to pass before you can apply to have a conviction expunged. Look up your state's policies on expungement and see when and if you are eligible.

BTW, you will need to look at the expungement policy in the state in which the conviction occurred, not the state you're in now.

[tcop733]

Buddy of mine got a ticket in a small jurisdiction for Simple assault Domestic Violence. Great guy, but not the sharpest tool sometimes. Anyways, that was around 1996 or 1997.
He finally got his conviction expunged and landed a job in law enforcement in 2007.
He was out of the game for 9-10 years.
You'll have to lawyer up big time, and even then there's definitely no guarantee.

[BP348]

Auto DQ for my agency. And I would think most if not all federal agencies.