I have charges for burglary and intent to distribute, double felony, that will not be convictions because of first time offender. I was with the wrong set of people and guilty by association. My plans were to go to AA school once I get out of undergrad in 3 years. Do you think I have a chance at getting in or I need to start looking at other career options?
I have turned my life around since then so hopefully they will look at it as youthful indiscretion but if not it would be really bad to not get into the program, or get in and then not be able to get a job...The world just doesn't seem to give people second chances...I will submit guilty pleas to get first time offender so I can say I was never convicted, but the charges still will show up on a background check...and every AA program does a background check.
Charges will still show up on a criminal background check. Even if you are not found guilty or are dismissed with a nolle prosequi the state or local government will have a paper trail.
Have you looked into expunging the record? Depending on what state you live in you may be able to erase the files. Most allow you to do this if you have a misdemeanor and are a first time offender. However, I'm not sure what the laws are for first time offenders charged with a felony. Even if you are not convicted you may not be able to expunge.
Most school applications from what I remember ask if you have ever been "charged" with a crime. Being charged with a crime doesn't make you guilty, but the schools still want to know.
I'm not sure what schools run background checks, but you can almost guarantee every hospital you work for will. Best bet would be to talk to a lawyer.
The record can't be expunged in GA under the circumstances. GA makes it just about impossible to expunge records. It doesn't look like anyone will give me a chance I guess.
on July 19, 2012, 3:50 pm