Expunge Your DUI Arrest

Congratulations on taking a big step toward a brighter future! With your record sealed or expunged, more job, educational, housing and loan opportunities are available to you, not to mention relief from knowing you no longer have a criminal past. However, nothing is ever perfect and the sealing or expunging process is no exception. There are still steps you must take to ensure your record is removed from the public eye and things you must know now about complying with Florida law moving forward.

First, make sure your order to seal or expunge contains a list of applicable agencies known to have copies of your record. These agencies typically will be the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE), State Attorney’s Office, and local arresting agency (e.g., sheriff’s department). Your local Clerk of Court is supposed to send a copy of the order to all known agencies having a record of your arrest, but it always helps to include the agencies in your order to help expedite this process. If your order does not contain a list of applicable agencies, don’t worry! You can send a copy of the order to each agency yourself. In approximately 60 days, you may want to run a FDLE criminal history check to make sure nothing comes up.

Now here come the words of caution… If your arrest was in the media, it’s still in the media (meaning, it is still accessible to the public). More importantly, private background companies keep their own databases. You may have to contact these companies yourself to request removal of your record. A simple internet search will reveal the major companies providing these services.

Once your record has been expunged or sealed, you may lawfully deny or fail to acknowledge sealed/expunged arrests. But, there are exceptions. If you are:

a candidate for employment with a criminal justice agency;
a defendant in a criminal prosecution;
concurrently or subsequently petitioning to seal another matter;
a candidate for admission to the Florida Bar;
seeking to be employed or licensed by, or to contract with, the Department of Children and Family Services, the Agency for Health Care Administration, the Agency for Persons with Disabilities, the Department of Juvenile Justice, or used by such agencies in a sensitive position having direct contact with children, the elderly or the developmentally disabled;
seeking to be employed or licensed by the Department of Education, and district school board, charter school, private school or any local governmental entity that licenses childcare facilities;
attempting to purchase a firearm; or
seeking authorization from a Florida sea port for employment within or access to a seaport

Then you still have to reveal your criminal history. However, in Florida the decision to seal or expunge by a court is discretionary, and it will be helpful to you that a court granted your record sealing or expungement request. For example, although you would have to reveal your prior record if applying to become a member of the Florida Bar, the existence of such record will not automatically disqualify you from membership.

Originally published here.

Celebrities are people known in the society. Their lives have no privacy while they are becoming more and more popular in their show business careers. Numerous fans all across the globe are admiring them for their own talent, charm and of course beauty. As what I said earlier, there are just few things private in their lives and a lot of happenings could possibly be known in the public. We have heard for these years that there are some celebrities were arrested because of DUI. They have names in the society but this factor is not considerable to exempt them from facing the consequences of driving under the influence. Here below are some list of celebrities and popular show business icons who are charged of DUI:

Richie Sambora

If you are fanatic of music, you can surely recognize this good-looking and talented man. He was appointed by Bon Jovi to be a his lead guitarist. He was also guitarist in the band “Message” which gave him an opportunity to release an record with the same name of the band and “Lessons” in the year 2000. As he worked with Bon Jovi, his career became more and more successful. Along his success was a trial on life as he was arrested of ZDUI. He was with his girlfriend and 10-year old daughter in Laguna Beach, California that time.

Mel Gibson

This multi-talented Hollywood celebrity is one of every woman’s dream men. Mel Gibson has something that make him to be a “star quality”. He an action star is some of the famous movies like “Lethal Weapon”, a dramatic role in “Hamlet” and he has really proven his talent of being a comedian in “What Women Want”. He is indeed a talented and great actor. Last July 28, 2006, Mel Gibson was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence. He was stopped on pacific Coast Highway about two in the morning. As he took a test, his blood alcohol content reached to .12% which proved that he was drunk that time (the limit must only be at .08% ). Plus, the officer found out a container of Tequila beside him and Gibson was saying some bad words to the officer. He was released at nine in the morning because of the bail.

Charles Barkley

His full name is Charles Wade Barkley. He is a former American professional basketball player and called as “Sir Charles”. He was also known as “The Round Mound of Rebound”. He was a very popular basketball stars and became famous all over the United States. He is considered as one of the most valuable players or MVP . Barkley had brought pride to his land by being one of the members who competed internationally. Along his popularity is some controversy like involving in some fights and DUI arrest in Arizona.

Lindsay Lohan

Who could never know this charming lady who is known to be a singer, an actress and a model? Her talent was developed whe she was still in a young age. She hit the attention of her fans in her film ‘The Parent Trap”. There are lot more projects offered to her that made her name in the top of celebrity list. Well, because of her popularity, her two-time DUI arrest is also known in the public.

Originally published here.

Florida Criminal Defense Attorney Brett Schwartz goes over the factors you should take into consideration when choosing an attorney to handle your case. TheLaw Offices of Hager and Schwartz handles all felony and misdemeanor criminal charges including DUI, Domestic Violence, Drug crimes, Theft crimes, Probation Violation, Expungement and more. Mr. Schwartz represents clients in Miami Dade, Broward, Collier, Monroe and Volusia counties. You can contact Brett Schwartz at www.DefendYourCase.com or by calling (866) 850-7575.