Expungement standards.

Existing law, subject to exceptions, provides that every defendant convicted of a misdemeanor and not granted probation and every defendant convicted of an infraction shall be permitted by the court to withdraw his or her plea of guilty or nolo contendere and enter a plea of not guilty or, if he or she has been convicted after a plea of not guilty, have the court set aside the verdict of guilty after one year from the date of judgment, provided he or she satisfies certain conditions. In either case, the court is required to dismiss the accusatory pleading against the defendant, as specified. The bill would make this relief unavailable for misdemeanor convictions of specified sex offenses that apply if the victim is a child 14 or 15 years of age or a dependent person. This bill would authorize, if a defendant does not satisfy all of the above requirements, the court, in its discretion and in the interests of justice, to afford a defendant that relief as to other charges to which these provisions apply if, after a lapse of one year from the date of pronouncement of judgment, the defendant has fully complied with his or her sentence, is not currently serving a sentence for any offense, and is not under charge of commission of any crime. The bill would specify that the dismissal of an accusatory pleading pursuant to the above provisions does not permit a person to own, possess, or have a firearm, or to hold public office if the person is prohibited from holding public office as a result of the conviction. The bill would make a clarifying change to its provisions.