New Jersey’s expungement statute does not allow an expungement of a criminal conviction if the applicant has a prior or subsequent conviction of another crime. Moreover, an expungement of a disorderly persons offense cannot be granted if the applicant has a prior or subsequent conviction of a crime or three other disorderly persons or petty disorderly persons offenses.
The Appellate Division has addressed a juvenile’s application for an expungement, where the juvenile had an adjudication of delinquency on five separate occasions during a 10 month period. The trial court granted the application and the government appealed. The government’s position was that the expungement could not be granted because the statute states that “for purposes of expungement any act which resulted in a juvenile being adjudged a delinquent, shall be classified as if that act had been committed as an adult.” Resultantly, the government argued that the applicant had a prior and/or subsequent convictions and to that extent he was barred from relief.
The Appellate Division rejected the argument and noted that the expungement statute provided two methods of relief for juveniles. One was where the juvenile convictions were to be considered adult convictions. The second provision was one where a juvenile could have his/her entire record expunged if five years had elapse from the last juvenile conviction and the applicant could otherwise establish eligibility under a five-part test specified by the statute. Under the facts of the case, the Appellate Division confirmed the Law Division’s decision.
If you need a criminal record expunged, it is very important that you have an experienced criminal defense attorney. Frank T. Luciano has been a criminal defense attorney in Bergen and Passaic County for over 40 years. He has been a member of the National Association of Criminal Defense Attorney’s for many years and a lifetime member of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML). In his career as a criminal defense attorney, he has handled many expungements of prior criminal convictions. You should also check out the Testimonials page of this website to read what Frank’s clients have to say about him.