Friend (really) was convicted of a B felony (4 counts) in the state of
Kentucky and sentenced to 5 years of probabtion.  Approximately 8
months later police discovered that he did not commit the crime
when another person confessed. Not sure if the guilty were sentenced
or not.  Question is, how does he get this felony taken off his
record.  Friend now lives in Ohio.

---

Request for Question Clarification by mwalcoff-ga on 25 Jul 2002 10:15 PDT

Has your friend received a new trial and been acquitted or had the charges dropped?

---

Clarification of Question by dude101599-ga on 25 Jul 2002 10:55 PDT

I know for certain there was no new trial and not sure if the charges
were dropped.  The only think I know was that the probation was
canceled.  If I need more information I can call him. Thanks.

Hello,

Your friend must make a motion in the court that convicted him to get
his record expunged. If charges were dismissed, he can refer to
Kentucky Revised Statutes 431.076, which begins:

"(1) A person who has been charged with a criminal offense and who has
been found not guilty of the offense, or against whom charges have
been dismissed with prejudice, and not in exchange for a guilty plea
to another offense, may make a motion, in the District or Circuit
Court in which the charges were filed, to expunge all records
including, but not limited to, arrest records, fingerprints,
photographs, index references, or other data, whether in documentary
or electronic form, relating to the arrest, charge, or other matters
arising out of the arrest or charge."
<http://162.114.4.13/KRS/431-00/076.PDF>

If charges have not been dropped, your friend can still ask the court
to expunge his record, but he has to wait five years from the end of
his sentence or probation. This is assuming he was convicted of a
misdemeanor. See (http://162.114.4.13/KRS/431-00/078.PDF)

For a list of Kentucky court addresses, see
(http://www.kycourts.net/Addresses/AddressLists.asp).

Please remember that this is not legal advice. Your friend should see
a lawyer.

Good luck.

Search strategy:

Kentucky courts
://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&q=Kentucky+courts

Kentucky code
://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&q=Kentucky+code

---

Clarification of Answer by mwalcoff-ga on 25 Jul 2002 15:20 PDT

First of all, I apologize for a mistake. I forgot that the friend was
convicted of felonies, not misdemeanors, so KRS 431.078 would not
apply.

Secondly, I would like to thank expertlaw-ga for his comment. To apply
for a pardon from the governor of Kentucky, use the following address:

Governor of Kentucky
700 Capitol Avenue
Frankfort, KY 40601
(502)564-2611(voice)
(502)564-2517 (fax)

That's from (http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/restorevote/Kentucky.htm), a
U.S. Justice Department site.

Quick response.  Good answer to a vague question. Thanks.

If your friend served out his term of probation (and he should know if
he did), it is safe to conclude that his conviction was not affected
by the confession. That would raise questions as to whether the
authorities found the confession to be credible.

Assuming his conviction was not overturned as a result of the
confession, and assuming relatively strong evidence that the
confessing party committed the crime, he may wish to apply for a
pardon as opposed to an expungement, particularly if the four felonies
did not arise out of the same incident.