Re: felony 20 years old

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On 8/17/11, nathan wrote:
> I would like to feel like acitizen again and hunt with my
> family. Anyone have any experience with rights restoration
> in WA state.(I had a felony burgulary in 1992, I was
> remanded to adult court when I was 17)

It's sad that neither law students nor lawyers seem to make
any effort here....

I'm neither so keep that in mind, and I know nothing about WA law.

WA, as many states do, has a procedure to have your records
sealed/expunged. The requirements relate to the type of felony.

This attorney, fishing for bait (you) has some interesting
pointers, see:

http://www.rosenlitigation.com/

I think that his suggestion to first go to:

https://fortress.wa.gov/wsp/watch/

and pay $10 to find out EXACTLY what your record says is very
good. The "class" of felony may matter a lot and it is even
possible that unknown to you the felony was reduced to a
misdemeanor and nobody ever told you. (don't laugh, I have
seen one poor person who did not have a felony and yet thought
for 20 years that she did, the charge had been changed to a
misdemeanor. Indeed it had been a felony charge, but the Court
struck out aspects thus reducing it to a misdemeanor.

If you indeed have a felony, you can hire an attorney such as
this fellow, or research the law yourself, or find a local
lawyer. In some cases (depending upon the prior conviction
and the state) it's as simple as having no further convictions
for a period of time (possibly 10 or 15 years). In that case
it may simply be a matter of getting the proper from from the
Court, filling it out and sending it in. You may find that
your records then get sealed, cool eh?

However, in some states a sealed record allows you to state to
certain people such as employers that you have "no record,"
yet you need a skilled attorney to tell you exactly what you
need to do if you wish to own a firearm. For instance, though
your records might become sealed, they are never entirely
sealed and certain parties such as judges can and do review
them (and possibly state police in matters involving
firearms!). So it is possible that relative to firearm law,
that to say "no record" when applying for a license, though
possibly legal, may automatically get you denied, whereas to
admit to the proper party that you indeed have "no record"
officially that you do have a felony and if it was a
non-violent felony, it is quite possible that a decision might
be then made to re-instate your rights to a firearm.
Sometimes honesty is the best policy.

A good, and experienced attorney that really knows the law
about sealing/expunging can advise you in such a way that is
most helpful to you. Frankly it should cost you no more than
$500 (I'm guessing) and may well be worth it.

Good luck!