Expert: Robin Sexton - 6/12/2008

Question
i went to jail for so called stealing out of walmart..it was not me but it was the girl that i was with..the items that i paid for they made me return and they took my reciept.they only charged us a for flat iron and a pack of batteries she admitted to taking those items..so why was i charged with the same and there was only one flat iron and one pack of batteries...the lawyer told me to plead guilty for finding out about it and not turning her in so i said okay ..she told me all i had to pay was a fine and that it was not going to be on my record...it shows up misdemeanor class c theft....i cant even get it expunged
what should i do ?


Answer
C-nell,

First thing is I would not hire that attorney again.  My guess is you were probably charged as an accessory, helping your friend to steal the items. Think look out.  As far as why you can't get your conviction expelled with out a lot more information no one can tell you.  Each state has different rules for expungement, some have none.  Usually there is a time frame, so much time has to pass before you can rile for expungement, such as 5 years.  Query your state for expungement on the Internet you should be able to come up with quite a bit of information on it.  Once the conviction is filed in court there is not much that can be done except expungement.  Sorry I can't offer more advise.  One thing to remember is that your friend gets quite of the bit of blame on this one also.

Good Luck

Robin