<p>I'm asking the question for a friend. (Really! Lol...) She will likely get the answer from her lawyer anyway but I'm curious myself.</p>
<p>Her son was involved in an incident earlier this year where some kids were batting down mailboxes with lacrosse sticks. Apparently four boys riding in a car together were stopped and charged with destroying personal property. Her son, who was in the car but was not hitting mailboxes, was charged but the charge was thrown out in court.</p>
<p>At any rate, now its application time and apparently her son is applying to a school that doesn't only ask if you are convicted, but also asks if you were charged with a crime. I told her she should call the lawyer she used and ask him, but I'm curious myself...I thought that you're "innocent until proven guilty"...so if so, how can a college application ask a question like that? </p>
<p>Innocent until proven quilty relates to whether one should be convicted.</p>
<p>Charged = arrested, yes I would advice speak to attorney, my guess is that the charges were dismissed, and as if he were never arrested. But her attorney will know.</p>
<p>“my guess is that the charges were dismissed, and as if he were never arrested”</p>
<p>I wish! I have some experience in this area. With my son, mind you. This may vary depending upon your jurisdiction, but if you are charged in Virginia and those charges are dismissed, you must have your record expunged before those pesky little misdemeanor charges disappear. Otherwise the arrest and charges will still show up on your record until the end of time.</p>
<p>I assumed from the way OP spoke that his friend already had an attorney, on behalf of her kid. Where I live, the attorneys know the drill, everything has to go away as if it never existed.</p>
<p>Oh, I think the attorneys know the drill here too. I just don’t think that every individual charged with a misdemeanor is as concerned with having their record expunged as future college applicants. Expungement isn’t an automatic here.</p>
<p>Well, the kid was certainly charged–the question I would have is what the exact wording is on the application relating to “charged with XXX.” Did it say charged with a felony? Misdemeanor? Crime is a pretty ambiguous term–was the application more clear?</p>
<p>The question of expungement is an interesting one. Does the fact that something has been expunged means that it need not be mentioned on any application? The question asks whether you’ve been charged with a crime, not whether your criminal record is clean.</p>
<p>Hmmm…I don’t know what the specific question was, and I’m not sure of the school that was asking it. I think she said “charged with a crime” and it did say excluding motor vehicle violations. Do they ask it on the Common App? (I sort of don’t want to call her about it now…but maybe I will call her in a few days and ask if she spoke to her lawyer.)</p>
<p>Juvenile offenses, sealed records and expunged offenses may go away for most purposes, but if you interested in law school and being admitted to practice law in some jurisdictions, these “charges” and expungements are still required to be revealed. These criminal issues won’t necessarily keep you from being admitted to law school or to the bar, but you must report them at some law schools and in some states.</p>
<p>Along the same lines - a friend who is trying to become a US patent agent told me that the application asked to account for everything, even speeding tickets…</p>
<p>I would not answer the question in the affirmative on the application, but I would make sure there is no record of this wrt future things like law school. (speaking with experience AND I’m a lawyer).</p>
<p>Even with expungment and dismissed charges, I am told that arrests can still show up on the nationwide DOJ background check and once they are out into the world databases, even an expungment cannot necessarily wipe that info away!</p>
<p>It can be awkward when a client was told by an attorney the incident is gone, yet it still shows up on a routine employee background check and I have seen that happen when hiring. It can then make the person look deceitful though they are only following the instructions they were given. A real catch-22</p>