A criminal record can have a serious impact on your personal life. It can make it more difficult to find a job, it can cost you your right to vote, it can affect your driving privileges, as well as have any number of other negative effects. It’s obviously in your best interest to keep your criminal record clean.
But mistakes happen. We understand. And charges can become overwhelming when they start to pile on top of each other. The law offices of John Webb understand this and work every day to help people out from underneath the weight of the criminal justice system. We want to help you avoid the negative effects that a criminal record can bring with it.
We recently had the opportunity to help someone facing the possibility of tarnishing their clean record. Here’s what they were facing and how John Webb and his law office addressed the problems.
The Challenge
Attorney John Webb recently had a great success in preserving a client’s clean record. The client came to John for help related to charges of evading arrest and simple possession in Rutherford County. At the time of his arrest on these charges, the client was already on probation and judicial diversion for a number of other charges including:
- Theft
- Evading arrest
- Unlawful possession of a weapon
- Driving on suspended license
- Possession of drug paraphernalia
- Possession of alcohol under the age of 21
- Consumption of alcohol under the age of 21
The judicial diversion meant that the client would have all of these criminal charges wiped clean (cases dismissed and expunged) from his record if he successfully completed the probation period.
The new criminal charges presented a huge problem—not only did the new criminal charges carry a potential sentence of 1-2 years (for felony evading arrest) and 11 months, 29 days (for simple possession), but these new charges occurred while he was already on probation for the original charges. The new criminal charges were a violation of his probation, and put him at risk of losing his chance to have the original charges dismissed and wiped off his record. He was facing the possibility of serving all or a portion of those sentences not to mention the possibility of serving time for the new criminal charges as well.
Visit John Webb to set up a free consultation today.
Finding the Solution
The first step in this process was to deal with the new charges. The client hired John Webb as his attorney in General Sessions Court. A hearing was held and useful testimony was elicited from the arresting officer. As a result of this testimony, John was able to later convince the prosecutor to give the client another chance on the new charges. John and the DA agreed on an arrangement where the new charges would be retired. The retirement allowed the client to avoid pleading guilty and afforded him the opportunity for the new charges to be dismissed and expunged after a brief period of time.
Once the new charges were successfully addressed, the second step in this process was to deal with the probation violation. As previously mentioned, the client’s opportunity to have the original eight charges dismissed and expunged could be lost if he was found in violation of his probation conditions. This could also lead to him being forced to serve a portion of his sentence.
The Results
Attorney John Webb was able to convince the DA handling the probation violation to dismiss it entirely because the new charges were retired and thus unproven. The dismissal was another huge win because it allowed the client to keep his diversion and second chance at keeping his record completely clean.
The law offices of John Webb are always proud to help our clients have the best chance at living their best life. And this case was a big win. The client came to us with a bad situation that would leave him with far less options in the future. We were able to keep him from serving jail time. But even more important than that, his record can still be wiped clean to allow him to pursue a career without a criminal record.
The Importance of a Knowledgeable Attorney
The criminal system is complicated. It is filled with subtle nuances that can have huge impacts on the outcome of a case. It’s important to find an attorney who understands these complications and can develop a strategy for how to address various criminal charges.
