<p>I was being stupid and I got caught with a misdemeanor worth of pot and drug paraphernalia. I have already been accepted into college and applied for Fasfa stating I did not have any crimal record (which I did not at that time). I found out in one application that it states I have to inform the school of it; however, I did not see any of this writing for any of the other colleges I applied to using the Common App. Do I have to report it to these colleges and fasfa? Or can I wait for the charge to be expunged?</p>
<p>You have to report convictions, not arrests. Wait until after your court appearance.</p>
<p>A good lawyer could make this disappear without a conviction on your record if this is a first offense.</p>
<p>My son was just charged with a misdemeanor for trespassing (he and a friend got into a school shed to play with some high jump pads – he had seen other kids do this before on a number of occasions and so he stupidly assumed it wasn’t a big deal). He has not been convicted, but he is absolutely terrified about his college applications. He is a top student, great SAT scores and lots of extracurriculars. He has his sights set on Ivy League and other such colleges. He had actually already planned to have his applications in well before the court date which isn’t until after the early admit deadline so I understand that he does not have to report anything until convicted. But my questions are: </p>
<p>1) If convicted, does he then have to report it to the colleges?
2) Do colleges do background checks of all accepted students should he actually be convicted?
3) If they do, would he be “unadmitted”?
4) How seriously would they take a trespassing misdemeanor given that he has no record and no history of bad behavior or poor judgment?
5) How long does it take to have a misdemeanor expunged?
6) What should we do to prepare for his court date? </p>
<p>I would appreciate any help because our son is beyond distraught. </p>
<p>My previous answer applies - get a lawyer who can make this disappear from the official record, do not try to navigate this on your own. He’ll probably get some sort of alternative punishment, and you should put him to work to pay for the lawyer, but most juvenile courts aren’t out to ruin lives, they’re there to get kids from committing future offenses by teaching them a lesson. Sometimes they can get to that goal without a mark on the official record if you are willing to work with the court - so get a lawyer who’s experienced in such matters and in negotiating such deals.</p>
<p>Thank you very much for your reply. We had read that municipal courts don’t view defense lawyers very kindly, especially for charges such as trespassing, but we can probably get advice without dragging a lawyer to the courtroom. </p>
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<p>I can’t imagine any court looking unfavorably on a criminal defendant who has retained legal counsel, no matter what the charge. That is simply ridiculous. If you have been charged with a crime, any crime, it is your absolute right to hire an attorney to assist you.</p>
<p>The idea is you don’t want to get to the courtroom, you want this settled before you get there, if you have to go at all. A good lawyer will know who to contact and how to make this go away. What you don’t want is a lawyer going in and trying to make a name for himself or grandstanding - discrete, quick, and effective are what you’re going for.</p>
<p>Your best bet in finding a lawyer is ask another lawyer - I would suggest someone who works family law or someone who’s at a big firm, but you can probably ask just about any lawyer. They can ask around among their colleagues who is the best person to handle your type of case. As a lawyer, my wife gets requests like that all the time and she usually has an answer within a day or so even though her firm has nothing to do with criminal law. They even get strange requests for things like who to contact in Sioux City to handle a white collar charge against Uncle Joe, and someone somewhere knows the right guy to contact. It’s kind of fascinating to hear how it all works.</p>
<p>I just remembered we had a case in last year’s class where a kid did something pretty stupid that got major national attention in August, he got his friend’s mom fired, he pled out in December, and by May he was in at a Big 10 school. And by all accounts, he wasn’t very sorry about it and his dad had managed to get him out of several other charges earlier. I think his lawyer was on speed-dial. So with a little subtle lawyering, you should be just fine. </p>
<p>Two stories here – Dad with the trespassing - this is so minor and your son’s goals so high that I would definitely consult with an attorney (hopefully one who used to be an ADA or public defender) to find out the “ways” in which to get this reduced. It is a minor charge. Story #1 - pot and drug paraph. Colleges don’t look kindly on these charges, misdemeanor or not. I would strongly suggest you too seek legal advice – it would suck to have a college find out about the charge after the fact and rescind an offer that you have already gotten excited about…</p>