The Colorado Court of Appeals recently expanded the ability of defendant’s to seal criminal records in Colorado.
In several cases throughout the metro area Denver courts, many petitions to seal criminal records were denied on the basis of a loophole in the sealing statute. People seeking to seal criminal records in the 18th Judicial District, which includes Douglas County Courts, Arapahoe County Courts, Elbert County Courts, and Lincoln County Courts were frequently previously denied the ability to seal their records based upon this loophole which was often the basis for an objection of the District’s Attorney’s Office.
In 2013 COA 77. No. 11CA1940. In re Petition of R.C., Petitioner appealed a district court’s order denying his petition to seal records of non-traffic offense charges brought against him that were subsequently dismissed. The Court of Appeals reversed the order and remanded the case with directions. Petitioner was charged with possession of marijuana (a class 2 petty offense), possession of drug paraphernalia (a class 2 petty offense), and unsafe lane change. After successful completion of a juvenile diversion program, all of the charges were dismissed with prejudice.
Petitioner appealed and argued that the court erred when it denied his petition to seal his records after all of the charges against him were dismissed with prejudice. Although CRS § 24-72-308 specifically prohibits the sealing of traffic infractions, the statute does not appear to contemplate petitions to seal records for cases that include both traffic offenses and non-traffic offenses. Therefore, if the district court “finds that the harm to the privacy of the petitioner or dangers of unwarranted adverse consequences to the petitioner outweigh the public interest in retaining the record” as to the drug offenses, it should seal the criminal records as to those charges. Therefore, the order was reversed and the case was remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
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