Commonwealth v. Hanna - Superior Court - January 14, 2008
http://origin-www.courts.state.pa.us/OpPosting/Superior/out/a18026_08.pdf
Case remanded for hearing to resolve factual disputes about the factual basis and nature of the defendant's plea agreement, under which he pleaded guilty to one charge and many others were dismissed.
In the course of the opinion, the court reviewed many of the most important expungement cases, including Wexler and A.M.R., infra, as well as Commonwealth v. Lutz, 788 A.2d 993 (Pa. Super. 2001)
General principles
“The decision to grant or deny a request for expungement of an arrest record lies in the sound discretion of the trial judge, who must balance the competing interests of the petitioner and the Commonwealth. We review the decision of the trial court for an abuse of discretion.” Commonwealth v. Rodland, 871 A.2d 216, 218 (Pa. Super. 2005) (citation omitted).
This Court explained the nature of the right to expungement as follows: In this Commonwealth, there exists the right to petition for expungement of a criminal arrest record. This right is an adjunct of due process and is not dependent upon express statutory authority.
In Commonwealth v. Wexler, [431 A.2d 877, 879 (Pa. 1981)], the seminal case on expungement hearings in the Commonwealth, our Supreme Court defined the responsibilities of a court as it decides whether to expunge an arrest record: “In determining whether justice requires expungement, the court, in each particular case, must balance the individual’s right to be free from the harm attendant to maintenance of the arrest record against the Commonwealth's interest in preserving such records.”
The Wexler factors “include the strength of the Commonwealth’s case against the petitioner, the reasons the Commonwealth gives for wishing to retain the records, the petitioner’s age, criminal record, and employment history, the length of time that has elapsed between the arrest and the petition to expunge, and the specific adverse consequences the petitioner may endure should expunction be denied.” Wexler, 431 A.2d at 879.
The Commonwealth’s retention of an arrest record, in and of itself, may cause serious harm to an individual. See Commonwealth v. Malone, 366 A.2d 584, 588 (Pa. Super. 1976) (noting possible effects of maintaining an arrest record, including economic and non-economic losses and injury to reputation). Commonwealth v. A.M.R., 887 A.2d 1266, 1268 (Pa. Super. 2005) (footnote omitted).
In this case, counsel argued that Appellant was 26 years old at the time of the offense, had no prior criminal record, and successfully served his probation. Appellant is a high-school graduate with college credits and technology-class credits. He is married and supports three children. According to counsel, the dismissed charges were having a serious adverse effect on Appellant’s employment prospects in the computer field.
If the defendant is convicted of a crime, he is not entitled to expungement except under the extremely limited circumstances permitted by statute. Commonwealth v. Maxwell, 737 A.2d 1243, 1244 (Pa. Super. 1999), citing 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 9122. At the opposite extreme, if the defendant is acquitted, he is generally entitled to automatic expungement of the charges for which he was acquitted. Commonwealth v. D.M., 695 A.2d 770 (Pa. 1997); cf. Rodland, 871 A.2d at 219 (where the defendant is acquitted of some charges and not others, the court should expunge the acquitted charges unless the Commonwealth “demonstrates to the trial court that expungement is impractical or impossible under the circumstances”).
"Unsurprisingly, the cases posing the most difficulty fall in between these extremes."
