<p>I read this in a newspaper article this past spring - I did look for it earlier in this conversation but my guess is that it expired in the free section.</p>
<p>Is it possible that it was illegal for a public official to discuss an arrest that had been voided or nullified? That would make sense to me.</p>
<p>OK, I found this....
Section</a> 651:5 Annulment of Criminal Records. - New Hampshire Section 651:5 Annulment of Criminal Records. - New Hampshire Code :: Justia</p>
<p>But we are getting off the original subject, and my hijacking of the thread is now over...
:-)</p>
<p>no it is actually illegal for this kid to even discuss it in school, he was talking about it in school with me and a security officer came and re-suspended him. his main concern is if the college can find out about this and if they do police checks</p>
<p>Thanks for that link:</p>
<pre><code> (a) The person whose record is annulled shall be treated in all respects as if he had never been arrested, convicted or sentenced, except that, upon conviction of any crime committed after the order of annulment has been entered, the prior conviction may be considered by the court in determining the sentence to be imposed, and may be counted toward habitual offender status under RSA 259:39.
(c) In any application for employment, license or other civil right or privilege, or in any appearance as a witness in any proceeding or hearing, a person may be questioned about a previous criminal record only in terms such as ""Have you ever been arrested for or convicted of a crime that has not been annulled by a court?''
</code></pre>
<p>A person is guilty of a misdemeanor if, during the life of another who has had a record of arrest or conviction annulled pursuant to this section, he discloses or communicates the existence of such record except as provided in subparagraph XI(b).</p>
<p>I think bloomsm301 is to be commended for his very sincere desire to help his friend. He was right there when his friend was re-suspended, too. It must make him feel very close to the situation.</p>
<p>It is my belief that honesty is always the best policy, but it is true that minors, if all appropriate measures are completed, are given a "mulligan" of sorts.</p>
<p>I'd echo the advise above - read the questions very carefully and then, if any doubt is in your mind, call your Attorney and read the question to them.</p>
<p>"A) If the law makes it illegal to answer in the affirmative, how can you answer in the affirmative."</p>
<p>But the OP made clear in the very first post that it will not be expunged before next June, so none of these legal conditions apply. It is NOT expunged, and therefore it is not illegal to answer in the affirmative.</p>
<p>I was clearly not talking about the OP's case. The laws in his/her/their case may be completely different or nonexistent in their case.</p>
<p>no the judge actually said during the court proceeding that "this case is closed". he said that he hasn't been "convicted" yet either</p>
<p>momofwildchild, why do you care whether or not this happened to the OP to to a friend? Someone's just trying to get some much needed advice and you are not helping.</p>
<p>Possibly, Ernie, b/c MOWC is an atty and if the OP is talking about himself, she can be of more help with backchannel info after more specifics re: the circumstances? And, if a poster is disengenuous at the very outset, its is sometimes hard to know what is real and what isn't, so it may be hard to give the best advice. JMO, FWIW.</p>
<p>Ernie- It just struck me that this kid can't even keep his story straight on a message board post, which doesn't bode well for him trying to lie about an arrest and be sure it isn't revealed on any part of his college applications. I like to be able to assess the real situation before giving advice, and when someone is contradicting himself within a single sentence, it gives pause.<br>
Seems like the OP may have bigger issues than just this arrest......</p>
<p>1st of all dont attack my personal character. momofwildchild your an adult, dont come onto this forum attacking a 17 year olds character. It doesn't matter to you what my personality is like, im not on this forum to make friends with people. this forum is for advice, not an analysis of a person. i understand that the contradictating makes it confusing and im sorry for that, but dont make lines like "OP may have bigger issues than just this arrest..." you dont know me, or my friends, so therefore you have no right or reason to judge anyone </p>
<p>the situation is is that my friend got arrested for a fight in the school, he went under a pre-trial diversion program which allowed him to never be "convicted guilty" of anything, the judge announced it a sealed case. he is worried about the college's rejecting him due to this event and therefore, is "lying" on the common application to say he was never convicted of a crime (which technically he hasn't been).</p>
<p>I stand by what I said. If you can't keep straight whether this happened to you (my money is on this choice) or your friend, you seem to have no qualms about lying if you think you won't be caught, and you seem to be easily confused, then perhaps you need to evaluate things some more. Sorry to offend- just calling it like I see it.</p>
<p>"in which if he completes it will act as if nothign ever happened. However that wont happen until june of the coming year and he has applications to submit."</p>
<p>So either it is closed or it isn't. The first post says clearly it isn't. Post #29 says it is.
So it is impossible to give clear advice.</p>
<p>hiya Bloomsm! Tell the friend if that the question is: "Were you arrested?" the answer is "Yes." If the question is "Were you convicted?" the answer is "No." Simple.</p>
<p>In either case, I think he has a great essay topic that could really catch admissions attention. A first line of "I was arrested." would be a bit different than the usual droning on about first place in the sixth-grade spelling bee. (I actually won first-place in my sixth-grade spelling bee, btw.) Not an apology or an excuse, but an interesting account showing growth and understanding gained from the experience. There is potential for humor, mystery and intrigue: Internet searches to see if the arrest shows up, college confidential threads gone crazy, re-supensions for uttering that which must not be uttered...</p>
<p>Judging by my high school, fights between male high school students are not exactly uncommon, and if all who did so were barred from college, there would be even fewer young men in college than the already slightly skewed numbers. I would recommend that your friend approach this situation head-on. It will make him stand out to colleges - not only for being arrested (a negative) but for being truthful, taking responsibility, and hopefully growing a bit in the process. Good luck to you and your pugilistic friend!</p>
<p>He will have to report the incident on the Common Application, because he was suspended. The Common Application does not ask for arrests, only convictions, so if he hasn't been convicted, he can answer no. But if a supplement asks for arrests, he will have to answer yes. This is especially true since he will have to report the suspension, and the college may want more information.</p>
<p>tocollege- While minor fights and wrestling are not at all uncommon, getting arrested for a fight that happened at school is unusual (at least for applicants to selective colleges). Yes, since it was a suspension it gets disclosed, and that is why I think the arrest might wind up getting mentioned in a school or counselor report- even if not in a negative way.</p>
<p>I absolutely agree with you, mowc! My perspective is that facing it head-on will mitigate the fact it will be mentioned. An on-campus arrest mentioned in the counselor report with no other information would be disastrous, while an adolescent-altercation-gone-out-of-control fully disclosed would be far less so.</p>
<p>I'd like to think writing an essay about it would be a good thing, but I can't help remembering the disheartening story about the girl in The Gatekeepers who was the only one who admitted to tasting a hash brownie got creamed in the admissions game. (Well not totally creamed - she got rejected nearly everywhere but a Cornell prof went to bat for her and she got January admission there.)</p>