Lucky15

I am just trying to get some info in misdemeanors.....

My soon to be ex-wife has placed a temporary protection order on me, she since violated me on that with an E-Mail trying to work things out. My lawyer is working with the DA to get things dropped. Most likely they are going to give me a defered sentence. This a Class II misdemeanor....

What does this mean for my flying career?? Does this show up on my FBI background check if I take the defered sentence with the charges dismissed afterwards? Can this be sealed so it stays out of all records? Is a deffered sentence a conviction?

Any help and advice would be great,
Thanks

NoyGonnaDoIt

It depends. There is an enormous variety in what a deferral is and what it means - even from court to court in the same state - that the only person who can really answer whether the deferral in your case is a conviction is your lawyer. I've seen in both ways.

If possible, your attorney should consult briefly with an aviation lawyer. Sometimes lawyers in the criminal process don't understand the career consequence. Sometimes a "great deal" from a criminal law perspective can be a "bad deal" from an aviation one. And vice versa.

Silver02ex

I can't answer all of your question but many people at the regionals have Misdemeanor. IMO It's probably better just to be up front during the interview than try to "hide" it like expungement. Most HR will ask you "have you EVER been convicted"

rickair7777

Are we just talking about a restraining order? If so, that's the oldest trick in the book in divorce cases and nobody will take it too seriously unless there is an actual domestic abuse event to go with it.

If your ex just made up some BS with ZERO evidence other than her word, well there is not likely to be a conviction and I think charges or an arrest can probably be explained. Most people understand how these things transpire.

But if there was an actual incident worthy of charges and a plea deal, you are going to have a tough time in airline aviation..you might get picked up by a bottom-feeder regional when they are desperate, but that's about the best you can hope for IMO. This is an industry where more than one or two recent moving violations can sink you. After the passage of many years your prospects might improve.

As someone said, you might have to weigh the risks of trial against career destruction via plea deal. A major factor would be how far along in aviation are you? If you have thousands of hours and many tens of thousands in debt it might worth risking. If you are a student pilot, probably better stay out of jail and switch careers...I doubt law school or even med school would have a problem with something like this.

I'm pretty sure that arrests, charges, and convictions (including plea deals) involving assault will be in the FBI database, so you should probably be honest at interviews.

rickair7777

A lot of folks have misdemeanors for drunk in public or other minor youthful hi jinks. While all of us dudes can certainly understand how an incident like this could occur, it is in a different league from some freshman frat prank.

Lucky15

Yes this was just a BS portection order.....
I did cross he bounds by having contact with her and nothing else, I did screw up. The contact was not abusive or threating. That is why my lawyer has to take a plea deal. From what I heard that if I keep my nose clean for a certain amount of time it show up as charge but without a conviction. How does this look?? I am a CFI/CFII/MEI with 1600hrs. So am on the verge of maybe having a job soon.

Thanks

flynpig

Much of this is very dependant on the particular state/county that this is occurring in so although advise on this forum is good you should definitly speak with an attorney about this. Some states will treat as simple TRO (temporary restraining order) violation as nothing and others will treat it more seriously. As long as it happened as you stated you are probably going to be able to work this out. Be sure to make it clear to your attorney what the potential conserquences are for your future career.

One thing that I would pursue as part of ANY plea deal is to get in writing some form of having this conviction (if there is one) removed after a specified amount of time has passed without any further transgressions on your part. Then move as far away from her as possible, change your phone number and your name, to reduce and/or ensure that this does not happen again. Maybe a little too much but you get the point.

Another possiblilty is that she may be willing to let this go away with a bigger settlement as part of the divorce agreement. If your attorney speaks with her attorney and both sides can come to an agreement then the prosecutor can fell better about removing themselves from the whole process. That might be the best for you long term but absoluty do not do this without your attorney!!!!!!!!!!!

Good Luck

kodiakallstar

it will be up to the judge to decide how long you have to be a good boy (deferred judgement). it might be up to 24 months. You may have to do some extra stuff on occasion (pee in a cup, meet with probation officer etc.) Basically, As long as you don't end up back in front of the same judge before your deferred judgement ends for another crime no conviction will be entered. The arrest however, will more than likely show up on the fbi check. its up to you how to explain it. that being said misdemeanors won't hold you back as long as you're honest about it. Not just to your prospective employer but also consider homeland security might want more info as well. its sounds like you've accepted the situation for what it is, so you'll probably be fine there. you might have issues trying to get into other countries (canada, australia) but those are usaully taken care of with the right paperwork. having a record isn't a deal breaker by anymeans but it does make things more difficult for sure. good luck. Don't give up and I hope it works out.

atpwannabe

nolle prosequi (no-lay pro-say-kwee) n. Latin for "we shall no longer prosecute," which is a declaration made to the judge by a prosecutor in a criminal case (or by a plaintiff in a civil lawsuit) either before or during trial, meaning the case against the defendant is being dropped. The statement is an admission that the charges cannot be proved, that evidence has demonstrated either innocence or a fatal flaw in the prosecution's claim, or the district attorney has become convinced the accused is innocent.
were dropped.

Some employers could care less if the charge(s) were dropped. The issue that employers have is the fact that you've had a "legal entanglement" and that that incident could possibly lead to other entanglements. It may take you up to 10 years of having "your nose clean" before an employer gives you the benefit of the doubt.

JMO and experience.



atp

AvSec

I posted this previously in a different thread. If this doesn't answer your question, contact the TSA Chief Counsel at the number below.

The problem is that if you have a conviction of one of the offenses included in the statute or the regulation, it won't be up to an employer to hire you or not. If you fingerprints indicate a disqualifying conviction within 10 years, that's it.

The statute and regulations prohibit employment of those individuals who have unescorted access to aircraft or a secured area of an airport when an individual has a criminal conviction (or finding of not guilty by reason of insanity) for a disqualifying offense in the previous ten-year period. The disqualifying offenses are listed in 49 U.S.C. § 44936(b)(1)(B).

WHAT IS A CONVICTION?

The statute and regulations specify that if an individual was convicted, or found not guilty by reason of insanity, of any disqualifying offense in the preceding 10 years, then the individual may not be granted unescorted access authority. TSA has taken the position that a conviction means any finding of guilt, plea of guilty, plea of nolo contendere, or finding of not guilty by reason of insanity. Whether a disposition of a criminal case is a conviction is a matter of Federal law. In Dickerson v. New Banner Institute, Inc., 460 U.S. 103 (1983), the Supreme Court held that the defendant had been convicted for purposes of a gun control statute even though under state law the defendant’s sentence had been deferred under state law. The key was that the defendant had pled guilty to the state offense and that was all that was required to make the underlying case a conviction for purposes of the Federal gun control statute.

TSA considers the following scenarios to be convictions (this is not an exclusive list):

· Person enters plea of guilty followed by deferred adjudication where court places defendant on probation for a period of 2 years.
· Person enters plea of nolo contendere followed by a 2 year period of community supervision.
· Person is found guilty by judge or jury followed by deferred adjudication where court places defendant on probation for period of 2 years.
· Person is arrested and placed on probation pending a trial. The state revokes probation and prosecutes the person and there is a finding of guilt.

TSA considers the following scenarios to not be convictions (this is not an exhaustive list):

· Person is arrested, tried, and acquitted.
· Person is arrested and is placed in a first offender program. Upon successful completion of program, the person is discharged and the charges are dropped.
· Person is arrested and placed on probation pending a trial. Upon successful completion of period of probation the charges are dropped.

HOW DOES AN EXPUNGEMENT EFFECT THE CONVICTION?

A number states allow an individual who has been convicted to seek a judicial order expunging the conviction. Expungements come in a variety of forms, but predominantly fall into two categories: (1) post-probationary period automatic expungements; and (2) post-conviction discretionary expungements.

As a general rule, where an expungement acts to nullify a conviction and the record of the conviction is maintained by the state only for purposes of sentencing in a subsequent criminal trial, then the expungement acts to nullify the conviction for purposes of the CHRC statute and regulations. If however, the expungement has conditions on it then the expungement will not act to nullify the conviction for purposes of the CHRC statute and regulations. Some examples of such conditions include the following (not an exhaustive list):

· Person may not own a firearm based on the conviction.
· Person may not be hired as a police officer or teacher.
· Person may not work as a health care provider.

Therefore, some expungements will remove the disabling effect of the underlying conviction and some expungements do not. Adjudicators should look to the specific provisions of state law through which the expungement was granted. (See attachment A).

WHAT EFFECT DOES A PARDON HAVE?

Most states, either through the governor’s office or a state board of pardons and paroles, have the power to grant pardons to persons convicted of a crime. TSA has taken the position that all pardons will act to nullify the underlying conviction for purposes of the CHRC statute and regulations.

ARE MISDEMEANOR CONVICTIONS DISQUALIFYING?

Unless otherwise stated in the statute, a misdemeanor conviction would act to disqualify an individual from unescorted access authority. For example, § 44936(b)(1)(B)(xi) specifies “armed or felony unarmed robbery.” (emphasis added) Conversely, § 44936(b)(1)(B)(ix) specifies “unlawful possession, sale, distribution, or manufacture of an explosive or weapon.” This provision encompasses both misdemeanor and felony weapons charges. Recently, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals held that a misdemeanor firearm offense does fall within list of disqualifying offenses in section 44936. The case is United States v. Baer, 2003 U.S. App. LEXIS 6023 (4th Cir., 2003).

ARE JUVENILE CRIMINAL RECORDS APPLICABLE?

When a juvenile has been tried as an adult, then the criminal record is applicable. Otherwise, juvenile records should not be considered for purposes of the criminal history records check statute.

For further assistance, please contact Stephen Brundage, attorney in the Office of Chief Counsel, at (571) 227-2662; email: [email protected]