Tooby's California Post-Conviction Relief for Immigrants

Official criminal histories, or “rap sheets,” frequently contain errors that can be quite damaging to an immigrant.  For example, a misdemeanor conviction may be wrongly recorded as a felony conviction.  An error may cause a conviction of a crime which is not a crime of moral turpitude to appear on the rap sheet as an offense of moral turpitude.  The sentence may be incorrectly recorded.  It is very common for the FBI “rap sheet” to reflect an arrest for extremely serious offenses without showing that the charges were ultimately dismissed or resolved by a conviction for a lesser included offense.

            Moreover, when post-conviction relief has been successfully obtained, it is important to make sure that the judgment is marked “vacated” or “expunged” in the relevant criminal history records of the client, so the immigration authorities can verify by their own independent records check that the client no longer has that conviction.

            For instructions on how to do this, see § § 12.4-12.5, infra.