Milios Defense

Clear Your Record. Protect Your Future.

Contact Milios Defense to Learn How.  (206) 621-9956

People make mistakes.  It's just that most mistakes aren't there for the world to see and and be forever explained.  A criminal conviction, even a minor one, can have long term ramifications on employability, education opportunities, credit, housing prospects and just one's own piece of mind.

Fortunately, for mistakes that the lead to criminal arrests, charges or convictions, Washington law provides a number of ways to reduce if not complete delete the public's access to this information.  At Milios Defense, our Washington criminal record expungement lawyers can, in most cases, expunge, vacate, or seal the criminal history you need to erase.  And, if you qualify to have your record cleared in these manners, there is no reason not to do so.

Located in Seattle, Washington, we have been helping people clear their Washington criminal history since 1993.  The process of expunging, vacating and even sealing criminal history can be done fairly quickly and efficiently.  Contact is today to see how we can help.

Arrested But Never Convicted?

Delete the existence of your case record.

In Washington, if you have been arrested or charged with a criminal offense, you have the right in most circumstances to request that it be deleted, from the public record.  Many criminal history background searches will show the fact of a criminal charge or arrest, even if it did not lead to a conviction.  This means that the mere existence of the criminal charge could be used to prejudice you in the eyes of potential employers despite being ultimately exonerated.

If it has been two years since your case was dismissed or three years after an arrest that did not lead to a charge being filed or a conviction, and that case is not pending, you may be eligible to have all non-conviction data expunged. This result would force law enforcement agencies in Washington to delete the information from its files.  In todays computer and information society, it is equally important to ensure that the expunged information is deleted from private data companies as well. Review our Washington Expungement section for complete information.

Convicted Of A Crime In Washington?

You May Be Eligible To Have It Vacated.

In Washington, most convictions that are not violent offenses or sex offenses can be vacated.  Vacating a record of conviction means to have an earlier finding of guilt reversed and the charge itself dismissed.  The effect of a vacated record of conviction is to allow the individual to legally say that he or she has never been convicted of a crime.  This is true for job, schooling, and housing applications and anywhere else that the question may come up.

The rules for vacating felony convictions, misdemeanor convictions, domestic violence convictions and juvenile convictions differ.  There are both different requirements and waiting periods.  A great deal of this site is dedicated to providing very specific information an how to vacate a record of conviction.  Feel free to use this information to assist you in this process but we are here to help if you need it.  At Milios Defense we are experienced in Washington expungement law and if you are eligible, we can quickly and efficiently get your criminal conviction vacated.

Was You Conviction Vacated?

Make sure that you have it SEALED as well.

Attempting to have your Washington criminal conviction vacated is only half of the battle.  Being able to legally say that you have never been convicted of a crime does you very little good if the public can still discover the fact of your criminal history through simple Internet background checks.  At Milios Defense we attempt to have all records of all successfully vacated convictions, sealed as well.

The sealing process is more detailed and less certain than vacating a record of conviction.  It requires several more steps and due to perceived gravity of denying the public the right to see documents that are public in nature, sealing requests receive more scrutiny from the courts than a request to vacate. Still, there is no reason not to make the request in virtually every case.

For further information on the process of sealing documents, review our Washington Document Sealing section.

Restore Your Civil Rights

Voting. Firearm Possession. Travel. Driver's License.

A criminal conviction in Washigton can lead to the suspension of certain constitutional rights and privileges.  Felony convictions will deprive one of his right to vote.  The right to possess firearms is taken away for felony and domestic violence convictions.  Convictions for most felonies and DUI prevent U.S. citizens from entering Canada.  Other convictions can even delay your ability to move from state to state.  The collateral effects of a criminal conviction can be long ranging and severe.  Fortunately, not all of these effects need to be permanent.  Steps to restore your rights are available in most cases.

At Milios Defense, we can help you to have these rights restored.  In a few cases, the loss of some of these rights may be permanent.  In most cases, however, it is not. Contact our Washington civil rights attorneys for a consultation to determine how and when you can expect full restoration.  For most situations we will be able to directly assist you.  For others such as eligibility for Canadian border crossing, we can get you started and refer you to a Canadian attorney.

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