Background checks are being employed more and more frequently as a common business practice for existing employees, and particularly for new hires. In today’s news is another story about the University of Georgia requiring background checks for anyone with a minimum amount of purchasing authority.

What is left unstated is: What exactly is a disqualifying incident that is discovered in one’s criminal background check?

It is a fact of life that criminal records are public records. And with this information easily and cheaply available through differnet public and private online record searches, it is nearly impossible to keep any criminal conviction a secret.

Though criminal records in Georgia and nationwide have always been technically public records, years ago, someone would have to fill out a form at a court house of police station, and wait for someone to dig up records from a dusty file cabinet.

But now, anyone can find those records online with minimal effort. And this changes the game for how damaging a criminal record can be to your future opportunities.

What Can Result from Having a Criminal Conviction on A Background Check?

Many industry licenses can be denied if you have a criminal record, such as a real estate license or opportunites to work in law enforcement or any job that requires a security clearance.

And with so many employers doing routine background checks for job applicants, it is easy to imagine how you would be passed over before having a chance to make your case, just because of a decades-old minor criminal incident.

What Can I Do About a Criminal Record?

If you have an existing criminal conviction in your past, it is possible for that record to be expunged in some case. Generally, a misdemeanor conviction can be expunged after 5 years if there are no other incidents in that time. Some felonies can be expunged after 10 years, but it depends, the rules are complicated, and you can be denied expungement.

Please contact us to find out of we can help you with a criminal expungement in Georgia.

But the best decision you can often make is to stop a criminal conviction before you even get it. That means fight your criminal charges aggressively in Georgia criminal courts. Don’t just plead guilty and accept the consequences and punishment that a criminal record will give you for years to come, without a fight!

It makes sense to consider the long term consequences of a criminal conviction before you plead guilty. Our defense attorneys can help you evaluate your options, and figure out the pros and cons and likely outcomes in any criminal case.

If you are charged with a crime in Georgia, please contact our defense lawyers today to take advantage of a free criminal defense lawyer consultation and full case evaluation.

A protest for what a Bruinswick Georgia hit and run victim’s friends and family believe was a unfairly light sentence was held yesterday.  The rally is to protest the plea deal made by the prosecutors who dismissed the vehicular homicide charge, and sentenced the man to a 6 year prison term, the maximum sentence for a hit and run involving the death of the victim.

The officers originally arrested the man for homicide by vehicle, hit and run, DUI, as well as driving on a suspended license. The hit and run charge seems like the only one that they could definitively prove, since it was not disputed that the man did not stop after hitting the victim on his bicycle, so they got the maximum penalty allowed for that charge.

Proving vehicular homicide charges would have been difficult, since the investigation showed it could have very easily been an accident. The victim was riding his bicycle in a traffic lane at night, with a dark clothes and no reflectors or lights on the bike. He was also found to have marijuana in his system.

It also does not appear to be clear that alcohol was a factor in the accident. No blood test was taken due to a mistake by the police, and no other clear evidence was cited to establish that the defendant had be driving under the infuence.

Under the facts cited, it certainly sounds like the prosecution got the strongest punishment they thought they could get. While is is understandable that the victims family and friends are upset about the results, plea bargains are critical to the system, and allow for both sides to make deals that are in the best interests of justice and fairness for everyone.

If there were no plea agreements, the criminal court system would grind to a halt, as every case would have to go to a trial in search of the maximum penalties. Cases would take years to resolve, holding everone’s lives in place indefinitely. Plus in many cases, the prosecution would lose, and the defendant would go free on a charge where he might have plead guilty to a lesser penalty. The plea bargain system is ultimately beneficial to everyone.

But that is understandably little comfort to a grieving family.