Hello,

Just over 10 years ago, I was wrongly arrested and charged with assaulting an undercover police officer. Basically, it was a case of mistaken identity and I feared for my life - when they tackled me, I was hysterical and tried to push the person off me. They had nothing to charge me with before I tried to push him, in doing so, I was charged with simple assault and battery, misdemeanor class 1 in the state of Virginia. The officer was not injured, I served no jail time, plead no contest and paid a fine.

Now, ten years later, I'm looking to get this item expunged from my record. Other than the occasional speeding ticket, I have nothing else in my background. How do I go about starting the expungement process?

Hello Loring:

You hire an attorney. You do that because you probably have only one shot at this and you want the best shot you can get... Plus, at the hearing, you're going to have a prosecutor on the other side of the table telling the judge that you should have been sentenced to prison and should STILL be there. So, you're going to want a guy in your corner telling he judge that you are, in fact, a wonderful person.

excon