Jacksonville Criminal Defense Lawyer Blog
Today, I argued in favor of a Jacksonville Petition to Expunge a Sexual Battery Record. Originally, I filed the Petition asking the court to expunge my client’s Jacksonville record. He was charged with sexual battery and the charge was dropped. Without a hearing on the matter, the Duval County Circuit Court judge denied the petition. Therefore, I set the matter for a full hearing.
At the hearing, the State Attorney argued that the reason the Jacksonville Sexual Battery Record should not be expunged was due to the fact that the State Attorney may want to use the record against the client in the future if another charge arises. However, the Florida First District Court of Appeals has ruled that this is not a valid reason to deny a petition to expunge (VDF v. State, 19 So. 3d 1172, 1175 (Fla. 1st DCA 2009). I presented this case and other Florida cases like it to the judge. The judge followed the law and granted the Jacksonville Petition to Expunge the Criminal Record.