Pomona, Petition to Seal Arrest for H & S 11550 Granted
In November of 2021, our client was arrested by the Pomona Police Department for allegedly being in violation of Health & Safety Code § 11550 (being under the influence of a controlled substance). Our client, then age 22, was seen by police outside his car and arrested him after the officers spoke to him and determined he was high on some type of drug.
His car was then towed and police performed an inventory inspection of the car, often a pretext for finding evidence of sales, i.e., a digital scales, pay-owe sheets, zip lock baggies commonly used to sell drugs and more drugs hidden in the car. Nothing was found.
While at the Pomona Police Station, he was not asked to give a blood sample. No evidence of drugs was found on him, i.e., a hypodermic needle, a small straw, a spoon, or empty baggies.
Our client’s parents came to the police station and posted a $2,500 bond in cash at the station. He was told when his arraignment date would be at the Pomona Courthouse.
Our client then returned home with his parents, who were quite concerned about this arrest.
Their son had recently graduated from a top university and was a very bright young man. He had scored a 1520 on the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT). He had also done well in college.
However, after graduating, he had returned home to Glendora to work on his applications to graduate school and began using drugs.
About three months after the arrest, the client received a letter in the mail from the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office, Pomona branch, advising him that they had declined to file a case against him due to insufficient evidence.
The client felt a great deal of relief, but was uncertain how the record of his arrest might affect his graduate school applications. He also was deeply aware of how his drug use had led him to a life that was now scarred with a criminal history.
Our client then made the decision to enter a residential drug treatment program to overcome his addiction and return to the upward trajectory his high SAT scores and academic accomplishments suggested was inevitable.
While their son was at the residential drug treatment facility, his parents called Greg Hill & Associates to ask about a petition to seal the arrest record under Penal Code §§ 851.91 and 851.92.
The parents explained the facts of the case and their concerns about the stigma of having an arrest for being under the influence of a controlled substance, even if a conviction never took place, let alone a case ever being filed.
Greg explained how their son was eligible because the one-year statute of limitations for filing such a misdemeanor case had expired. Greg also explained that the letter from the District Attorney’s Office, while certainly nice to receive, did not bar their office from filing the case if further grounds for filing arose or were discovered.
Greg then explained how the petition to seal was prepared (what it included and needed), filed at the courthouse (in this case it would be the Pomona Courthouse) and served to the District Attorney’s Office for the Pomona Courthouse, as well as the Pomona Police Department.
The parents then explained that their son was in a residential drug treatment program and he would call Greg to further discuss the petition. The client then called Greg. Greg and the client had immediate rapport because Greg has a son who scored about the same score on the SAT and recently graduated from a prestigious undergraduate program. The client later told his parents to retain Greg Hill & Associates.
Our office then prepared, filed and served the petition to seal. The clerk in the Pomona Courthouse assigned it a hearing date about four weeks after we filed the petition.
Greg then appeared in the Pomona Superior Court for the hearing. The prosecutor who appeared had no objection to the petition and the judge granted the order to seal the arrest report.
This would mean that the record of the arrest would be erased or deleted off our client’s criminal history for anyone to see except law enforcement if our client were to apply for employment with law enforcement. The client and his parents were very happy.
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