Can I expunge My Felony that Turned into a Misdemeanor? A Minnesota Expungement Attorney Unravels the Confusing Aspects of Stay of Imposition Expungement
In Minnesota, if you were originally charged with a felony, one potential resolution to the case is to receive a stay of imposition. (Minnesota Statute 609.135). With a stay of imposition, the judge stays your sentence and if you successfully complete probation, your case gets reduced to a misdemeanor. That sounds great. But for many years, defendants successfully completed probation, assumed that their case was now eligible for expungement, and called an attorney eager to get started. All to find out that the law continued to treat their case as a felony for purposes of expungement. It was quite the rude awakening. Thankfully, in 2023, the law was changed to allow stay of impositions to be able to be expunged. But there is an important asterisk you need to know about.
The 2023 Change on Stay of Imposition Expungement Eligibility
The 2023 change in expungement law provides an explicit provision that allows for stay of impositions to be expunged. (Minnesota Statute 609A.03 subd. 3(a)(7)). There are two basic requirements to be eligible for this type of expungement: (1) you meet the waiting time period requirements; and (2) your stay of imposition was NOT vacated by a probation violation. The first, requirements is straightforward like any other expungement where you need to wait a certain number of years after discharge of probation before you can petition for expungement. We will not get into the details of the time periods in this article, because our focus is on unraveling the confusing aspects of the second requirement.
Whether Your Stay of Imposition Was Vacated is the Important Question
I’ve had multiple prospective clients contact me in recent weeks who received a stay of imposition sentence on what was originally charged as a felony. At least one of them acknowledged that they did have some problems with their probation officer and knew that there was a hearing related to the problem. But they assumed everything was good after they did a few days in jail as part of their sanction for the probation violation. They assumed that their case had been reduced to a misdemeanor after probation like what was talked about at the original sentencing hearing. The problem is that when I looked at court records, I saw that the judge had revoked the stay of imposition at the probation violation hearing and sentenced the person to a felony. It’s understandable if you are unfamiliar with the legalese language that lawyers and judges use to not understand what happened at a probation violation hearing. I wish someone would have taken the time to explain it to him better at the time.
What Happens When A Judge Vacates A Stay of Imposition
The prospective client did not have the benefit of a more careful explanation. But to break it down for people reading this article, what happened at the hearing was the difference between a felony and a misdemeanor. A stay of imposition is never a guarantee or promise that it will be reduced to a misdemeanor. You still need to complete probation successfully without your stay of imposition being revoked. If a judge finds you violated probation, they will then have a decision of whether to revoke your stay of imposition or give you another chance to complete probation without another violation. And apparently this person I talked to did not understand that the judge had chosen to revoke the stay of imposition at the probation violation hearing. And that was the difference between being eligible for an expungement and not. As much as that was bad news. Thankfully, that was not the end of the story. That person was eligible for a pardon so we were able to explore other options to clear his record. But this conversation highlights the needs to talk to an experienced expungement attorney when you are attempting to clear records because there are many lawyers who do not understand the nuances of the law around stay of impositions.
Conclusion
If you want to expunge or pardon your stay of imposition criminal conviction, you want an attorney who is knowledgeable, experienced, and well versed in the law on expungements and pardons. Contact Jack Rice Defense today for a free consultation. 651-447-7650
Peter Lindstrom
Peter is the head of the expungement departments at Jack Rice Defense. He has won expungements for many challenging case types including felonies, DWI, and domestic violence cases. Peter is particularly known for his intelligence, creativity, and legal acumen. If you want your record cleared, you want Peter and the team at Jack Rice Defense in your corner.
