Certificate of Rehabilitation

I was recently granted a Certificate of Rehabilitation, and would like to share my process for any who may be interested.

In 1995 I sold 3 vhs cassettes depicting minors having sex. These were included in a box of about 200 legal videos. I was charged with 3x possession (misdemeanor) and 3x sale (felony). I was not required to register under section 290, but that became a requirement during my probation as the program started up in 1996. My registration was confined to the Police Dept records, which was a small blessing.

I was ordered to do 3 years of therapy with Dr. Wes Maram who is renown in the field of sex offenses. I was released from that program after one year, after Dr. Maram diagnosed that I was not a pedophile. I completed probation, paid dues, etc.

I had a DUI in 2003, which caused immigration problems. Before that I’d been “under the radar” with my felony but once my name popped up in the system, I had to spend 20 months in detention fighting deportation.

Fast forward to 2010, when California reclassified my crime and put my information up on the Megan’s Law public website. I contacted an attorney to try for a Certificate of Rehabilitation, and that cost about $2000. He suggested that I get an evaluation from Dr. Maram. This cost about $3000. Three different tests were involved. The lie-detector was easiest. The one with imagery of abuse and sex was horrible and I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy. Nonetheless with a favorable test and several letters from family and friends, we appeared before Judge Goethals in OC Superior court where I was shot down because of the DUI. He expressly read aloud the COR paragraph that includes the word “sobriety” and pointed out that it was a requirement which I’d failed. He denied the COR but allowed us to retry in two years.

In the meantime I lost my job and had to move from Irvine due to the public listing. A few friends were lost as well, though my girlfriend stayed with me. I started reading up on the subject, perusing blogs, etc. and learned of Chance Oberstein, a former sex offender who’d gotten a COR and regained his attorney status. I booked a paid consultation and spoke at length with him. His contribution to my endeavor was the concept of letters: get as many as possible from business and professional associates. Judges discount letters from family and friends but weigh others from the larger community favorably. He had a huge binder full that he’d taken to court, it seemed to easily number 200 pages. Being an attorney, he had them from other lawyers, police, church, business owners, etc.

I thanked and paid him for his consultation but retained my own attorney. I did go down to the OC Newport courthouse to look at Chance’s filing and read the letters in length, copying several to use as templates. After all, this was public information. I contacted several of my former colleagues and employers, my landlord, my girlfriend’s parents, and others to get as many varied perspectives as possible. I printed up utility bill samples for the last 5 years (to show proof of California residency). I also learned that Judge Robison, who’d granted a COR to Mr. Oberstein, would be retiring at the end of 2012. That coincided perfectly with my 2 years. My attorney filed the COR motion on Halloween.

Long story short, the motion was granted and I was ecstatic. The COR papers took a month to arrive from the court, by mail. I waited 30 days and checked with the DOJ in Sacramento, and they had never received any of the documents. I faxed and mailed them in. It took another 30 days to be removed from the Megan’s Law website, a total of 3 months after being granted a COR.

Next, I had to clear my picture and information that had propogated through the internet. I approached the hosts as someone who’d moved into the apartment where “that guy USED to live” and needed that information removed, to ensure safety for my family. I emphasized the fact that the profile on their website pointed to a non-existent page on the Megan’s Law website. City-Data.com had to be contacted through their parent company, Advameg before removing the info. Homefacts took my information down right away. Busted-offenders.com took many many tries, and I actually had to call that one in. It finally cleared off but the picture lingered on Google image results. I had to use this link to have it removed: http://support.google.com/webmasters/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=1663688

The only challenges remaining are Mugshots.com and Sorarchives.com. I’m considering a picture-burial tactic, and will update if it works.

So what have I learned from all this?

1) Don’t get in ANY more trouble. It all comes up when you see the judge, minor traffic infractions aside. You want to go in as clean as possible.

2) Do your COR attempt as quickly as possible. I think the first opportunity is at 7 years but varies by offense. I neglected it since my information wasn’t public. But who knows… the law could change and shut that door, or you could have a DUI, or something. Do it asap.

3) Get those reference letters. Tell a few people about your situation, that you’re going in to court. Some of my contributors didn’t even want to know what had happened, and they basically wrote letters describing my character, skills, trustworthiness. Others got into detail about my disclosure and who I am now, who they know, how a COR would affect my productivity and contribution to the world. Some of the best letters are from officers, firemen, politicians and others in public service with whom judge can identify.

4) Write your own letter to the judge, and delve into painful honesty. Get into how you felt at the time, what led you to that event, what you got out of therapy, the pain and shame you felt and feel, the fear of violence, accomplishments, your current outlook, any certifications or licenses.

5) Volunteer. I volunteered at a local Catholic charity where they feed homeless people on Sunday mornings. I’d get up early, join another 20 or so volunteers to prepare and cook food for almost 150 people. In addition to getting letters from them to present in court, I was filled with a humility that I’ve never known. It felt like I was doing something to better the world, beyond personal gain. For me, a new concept 😀

6) Get a psychological evaluation. Dr. Wes Maram did mine, but I’m sure others can administer less tests for less money. Put it this way… if you bomb the test, you don’t have to give it to the court. If you ace the test, you’ll definitely want the judge to see it.

7) Stay optimistic. This is silly but the day before my appearance, I got a great massage to just drain all that negative energy and tension, dissipating the fear and letting me breathe while I was in the courtroom. For months previous, I filled my thoughts with gratitude to the judge and the universe, thanking him in advance for granting me the COR.

So that was my process for getting a COR. Hope yours succeeds as well.

In OC, motions are heard on a Friday. Case files begin with M- and can be seen on the occourts.org website. However case detail is not available on the website, so unless you know of someone going in for a COR, you’d be sitting in on all kinds of motions. The hearings differed greatly during my two appearances. I didn’t speak during either, with my attorney doing all the talking. Judge Goethals was on a warpath and let the whole court know what was going on as he denied my motion. Judge Robison was much more discreet and conveyed his decision quietly to my attorney while he had approached the bench.

Most of the juice would be in the filing, since judges base their decisions primarily on the details presented therein. To see an example of a successful filing, you could look up someone who was granted a COR (such as the gentleman mentioned in my first post) in the OC website, then go to the courthouse and request to see the case. Then you can spend a day reading every page, making notes, taking copies. I would guess most other courts operate the same way.

I just noticed that Certificate of Rehabilitation – who, what, how – is the topic of a presentation at the RSOL Conference later this month.

How To Stop 290 Registration
http://rsolconference.org/presenters

Goals of the presentation are
1) Identify what sex crimes qualify for Certificate of Rehabilitation or Governor’s Pardon, and
2) Step by step approach on how to file for a Certificate of Rehabilitation or Governor’s Pardon — and how to win

Ranon, Thank you so much for posting this valuable info, which I just came across now. I do not have a sex offense, but this is one of the few accounts I could find of the COR process – for anyone. Can I ask, how did you find a good COR attorney? I’m having a hard time. Many good crim. defense attorneys have told me they don’t do them. Also, my county of residence is now different than the county I was prosecuted in. Which county should I look for a COR attorney in? Or doesn’t it matter? I think the prosecutor in the original county hates me, because I wouldn’t play ball with them, so I’m sure they will oppose my COR app. Thanks in advance for any response you can provide.

This was passed on to me via a friend who got it from an attorney. Note the exception…

Now that we have a Governor of California who is granting hundreds of pardons, it would be well to note the amendment to the Certificate of Rehab process that is effective as of January 1, 2014. Here is the new language adding Penal Code section 4852.22 to the Certificate of Rehabilitation process:

Penal Code § 4852.22

Except in a case requiring registration pursuant to Section 290, a trial court hearing an application for a certificate of rehabilitation before the applicable period of rehabilitation has elapsed may grant the application if the court, in its discretion, believes relief serves the interests of justice.

The “period of rehabilitation” required in the process before this amendment would be calculated as the sum of two components: a five-year period of residency in California before the filing of the petition PLUS an “additional period.” The shortest “additional period” currently in the code is two years, but there are “additional periods” of four and five years, depending on the offense of conviction. These “additional periods” produce periods of rehabilitation of nine and ten years, respectively. Until the recent amendment to the code, the shortest “period of rehabilitation” was therefore seven years.

The Senate Committee on Public Safety’s analysis says the following:

“Third, [this bill] allows the court to waive the 5 year time period to grant a COR in the ‘interests of justice’.”

The upshot of this amendment is that with the exception of registered sex offenders, persons who can demonstrate a record of extraordinary post-conviction rehabilitation—after release from prison or jail or after completion of probation—can apply for a Certificate of Rehabilitation and Pardon within five years, subject to the sound discretion of the court.

I received this reply from an attorney regarding my questions about felony reduction, expungement and COR. I thought that the courts ruled recently that those with a 288 conviction can file an application for a COR AND, depending on the court can have it granted.

Section 288(a) convictions are “straight” felonies (not wobblers) and can never be reduced to misdemeanor status per section 17(b). There is no point in seeking this relief in court.

However, you’re in luck as to an “expungement.” I checked on this for another prospective client recently and discovered, to my surprise, that although convictions of 288 are barred from relief under Penal Code section 1203.4, an attempted 288 conviction [664/288(a)] is not barred. Please note that 1203.4 provides for a dismissal of charges, not a true expungement. Many people mistakenly refer to it as an “expungement.” There is no true expungement under the law of California for convicted persons, except for convictions involving possession of small amounts of marijuana.

Convictions of violating 288.2(b) are not even mentioned in the list of offenses that are barred from relief under section 1203.4, so the 288.2(b) conviction is not a problem in that regard.

If you completed probation perfectly, the court is REQUIRED to grant you relief under 1203.4. It is MANDATORY. However, if you so much as omitted to pay the tiniest fine, the Probation Department will advise the court to deny your petition.

As to the COR, you are barred from relief because of the 288 conviction. Your only course of action is the traditional or “straight” pardon application directly to the Governor for a pardon. This may not be as far-fetched as you might imagine. Brown has been granting hundreds of pardons, and I have obtained a couple for clients already.

I was up all night reading everyone’s posts. It looks like our trip to Italy will be indefinitely postponed. My questions are the following: 1) in order to apply for a COR, does your conviction have to have been a misdemeanor? It seams as if some of the offenses talked about in prior blog posts where people were successful in being granted a COR would have been felonies, but in the FAQ section on this website, it states the offense has to be a misdemeanor to apply for COR. ??? 2) if granted a COR, are you removed from the government’s FLOGGING (oops) I mean Flagging system for international travel? Or will you still have a problem traveling abroad?

Thanks in advance for any replies