Wife denied CHP in Amelia County Va.

[Bark'n]

Might be better to get her record expunged, then you'll never have to worry about it again.

You'd be surprised how many "expunged records" have a habit of showing up before the judge.

I have a friend who paid over $8,000 twenty five years ago to have a DUI "expunged." He even got court documents at the end of the case saying his record was to be expunged after paying a hefty fine on top of the $8k legal fees. Eighteen years after all that he got another DUI. Guess what? The judge still had his prior DUI noted in his record. Judge told him, "That's two! One more and you will do prison time!" Each case was on opposite sides of the state.

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[Eagleks]

That's a tough one for any of us from here to answer, because she would probably get her permit based upon the info you gave. Never convicted of a felony, and 2 misdemeanors , the latest 16 yrs ago.

I wish you luck.

[celticredneck]

Paramedic, section 7 is the part we are trying to understand.

7. An individual who has been convicted of two or more misdemeanors within the five-year period immediately preceding the application, if one of the misdemeanors was a Class 1 misdemeanor, but the judge shall have the discretion to deny a permit for two or more misdemeanors that are not Class 1. Traffic infractions and misdemeanors set forth in Title 46.2 shall not be considered for purposes of this disqualification.

What does it mean when it says the judge has some discretion. If it means that, although the applicant meets the qualifications as given in the Va statute the judge can deny the permit based on his or her feelings, then is Va really a "shall issue state"? Or, does this discretion as stated in section 7 refer only to the 5 year period? To me it is somewhat vague.

[packinnova]

I would say you need to lawyer up if you're serious about making sure this gets overturned at Ore Tenus. The beginning statement of Sect 7 itself seems to directly limit the misdemeanor convictions of any level to "within the five-year period immediately preceding the application". That seems pretty self explanatory to me. It shouldn't matter if it was a class 1 or class 3. If it's outside the 5 years, judges discretion shouldn't come into it.
Edit:
Then again, IANAL. I only studied Criminal Law for a few semesters...right before I dropped out

[celticredneck]

Just an Update. We are retaining a Richmond lawyer, Mr Mathew,s who is on the list of 2nd amendment friendly lawyers given earlier in this thread. He was recommended by the VCDL president. It is going to cost us somewhere in the neighborhood of $800, but I feel that the judge is not following the Va shall issue rules, and if we let him get away with this, He will probably do it to someone else. I'm going to have to put the fee on my credit card and hope I get enough in my tax refund to pay it off. I don't believe that anyone has ever fiought a denial in this county before because the Clerk of the court had no idea "what an "Ore Tenus" hearing is, or how to file for one.

[LanceORYGUN]

If the judge has reason to believe that your wife is a drug addict, then he can legally bar her from getting a permit indefinitely.

Virginia state law says that a person can be disqualified from obtaining a CHP if they are:

"An individual who is addicted to, or is an unlawful user or distributor of, marijuana or any controlled substance."

That would be the only legal grounds that I can see him using to justify the denial. The misdemeanor conviction is way too old to be able to disqualify her.

A lawyer should be able to easily win this case for you. The bad news, though, is that it will most likely cost you an arm and a leg in attorney fees.

You may have to make a case to prove that your wife is not a drug addict. That will mean witnesses, affidavits, drug tests, etc ...

.

[LanceORYGUN]

Just an Update. We are retaining a Richmond lawyer, Mr Mathew,s who is on the list of 2nd amendment friendly lawyers given earlier in this thread. He was recommended by the VCDL president. It is going to cost us somewhere in the neighborhood of $800, but I feel that the judge is not following the Va shall issue rules, and if we let him get away with this, He will probably do it to someone else.

Wow, that is great that there are attorneys handling these types of cases for such a reasonable amount of money. That is excellent.

I fully agree that this judge is abusing the law. I bet you anything that he is jumping to the conclusion that your wife uses drugs, which he has absolutely no right to do.

.

[dylistn]

A neat case, Judicial abuse pumps $800 into the legal industry of VA. Good luck. If the case is overturned, the judge sould have to pay legal fees. Thanks for fighting back.

[OldVet]

Good luck! Hope the past is past and the two of you can move forward.

[tkruf]

Good luck with the hearing. Sorry that you're having to go through all of the expense and getting a lawyer and all for this. I hope things work out and it's worth it in the long run. Maybe the judge has done this before and gotten away with it, and nobody ever fought it before.

[CPO 15]

Please let us know how it works out.

[celticredneck]

Thanks for the well wishes, guys. I will post the results as soon as we find out what happens.

[Eagleks]

Wow. Here , if it's been over 5 yrs it's not a disqualifer, and they could have their record also expunged.

[mandalitten]

You should still try to get one conviction expunged. You have nothing to lose. I don't know what the law in VA is, but you might be able to get both expunged. I believe most courts will only expunge one charge, but you should find out through your lawyer. Some places you can get one expunged first, and if the other conviction is in another court you can get that expunged as well. Even if it shows up on the judges desk, he should not use it as evidence.
I would also ask for all documentation that was used to deny you the permit as part (you have the right to that), which will probably be more than what the told her in the denial.
Don't be surprised if this runs you higher than $800 though. This might be just to get started on the case.
Good luck and let us know how you make out.

[celticredneck]

Va doesn't allow expungement of charges to which you plead guilty or were convicted, only those which were "Nolle Prossed" or otherwise not prosecuted. What really makes me mad is that a convicted felon van petition the court to have all of his rights restored including second amendment rights. My wife can't do that because she technically has not lost her rights. She votes and has been asked to serve in a jury pool. And, as far as I know, she can still open carry here in Virginia. But, that hasn't been tested yet.