Petty Theft - No Guilty Charges Dismissed and Citizenship

S

Silly Mistake

Registered Users (C)
My question involves criminal law for the state of: California

I was involved in petty theft of $110 worth of items in Mar 2004. I hired an attorney and we pleaded 'not guilty' and the case was dismissed. The court had me do 40 hours of voluntary service and i had to take some consultation classes for 40 hours. I completed all of that successfully.

Now, my dillemna is I have a citizenship interview next Tuesday and I am not sure if the above incident would affect my citizenship? I was a permanent resident at the time I committed this biggest mistake of my life of stealing something.

The reason I stole was because I had an argument with my mom and I was just not thinking form my mind...

I am overall a very good student and that's the only mark I have in my background.

Please advise If my citizenship can be denied on a dismissed pleaded not guilty case which occured 4.5 years ago.

Thank you very much!!
 
I don't know the answer to this question but you should either read up on this in some law school library or go see an attorney. It's a bit weird that you sat on this till now but I take your question at face value.
 
It will ultimately depend on your adjudication officer. Did you list it in your N-400?

Anyway, take court papers and all proofs associated with this case for your interview. Hire and attorney if you can.
 
Hard to say for sure. From the information you've given, there could be some implication that you took part in diversionary sentencing, and thus might be considered guilty under immigration law. Ultimately you will be fine, but the offense might need to roll outside the 5yr CIMT window.
 
Yes, I did put it on the N-400 application and I also have the court disposition order that says case dismissed and closed.

Would this offense fall under 5 year rule too? I thought i would be okay if my record was clear for 1-3 years?

Also, I have been an outstanding student from the very beginning. At the time this happenned I got admission in 4 year college and now i have successfulyl completed my bachelors as well as MBA with almost 3.6 GPA. I am also a member of Association of Certified Fraud Examiners and taking the Certified Fraud Examiner test this year. Can all of this make my case stronger? I know this is a bit ironical but I had no intention of doing what i did 4 years ago! :(
 
Silly Mistake said:
Yes, I did put it on the N-400 application and I also have the court disposition order that says case dismissed and closed.
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But USCIS is allowed to look at the court records themselves and determine you are guilty in their eyes, if you said anything on the record that can be construed as an admission of guilt. And probation and other punishments can also be seen as guilt to them. Dismissed, not guilty, expunged doesn't mean you are safe. It isn't fair, but they are like a judge and jury all over again. So you should have a lawyer look over the court records to determine if your case can be considered guilty for immigration purposes (hopefully it is not, but we don't have the professional expertise nor the court records to make that determination for you).
 
I hired an attorney and we pleaded 'not guilty' and the case was dismissed. The court had me do 40 hours of voluntary service and i had to take some consultation classes for 40 hours. I completed all of that successfully.
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This is a conradiction. If the case is dismissed, the court will not have you do anything.

You need to know the maximum possible jail term under the section of the law that you were convicted or pleaded guilty to.
 
raevsky said:
This is a conradiction. If the case is dismissed, the court will not have you do anything.

You need to know the maximum possible jail term under the section of the law that you were convicted or pleaded guilty to.
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A diversionary program allows you to complete community service in exchange for a non-guilty plea and dismissal of charges. The service performed is not a result of the non guilty plea, rather the completion of service allows for the charges to be dismissed.
 
So does that mean in the eyes of immigration I am still guilty and they can deny my citizenship on this basis?

I spoke to my attorney who helped with getting my case dismissed and eventually getting the case closed, he said the case was dismissed and that's the best any attorney could do...you can't go any far than this. And if this is true, than why would it create a problem for naturalization?? I am extremely scared!!
 
http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/86942.pdf

Defines:

9 FAM 40.21(A) N3 CASES IN WHICH CONVICTION EXISTS
9 FAM 40.21(a) N3.1 Defining Conviction
(CT:VISA-753; 06-29-2005)
INA 101(A)(48) defines “conviction” as either:
(1) A formal judgment of guilt entered by a court; or
(2) If adjudication has been withheld,
(a) either:
• A finding of guilty by judge or jury; or
• A plea of guilty or nolo contendere by the alien; or
• An admission from the alien of sufficient facts to warrant a finding of guilt; and
(3) The imposition of some form of punishment, penalty or restraint of liberty by a judge
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I think under paragraph 3 what happened is still a conviction in terms of immigration law. Because punishment has been imposed.
 
So does that mean in the eyes of immigration I am still guilty and they can deny my citizenship on this basis?
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I do not know. You have not told us the maximum possible penalty under the section of the law you pleaded not guilty. And I do not know in what state it happened, so I cannot figure it out myself.
 
Actually, I am wrong. What it says it says 3 and (1 or 2).
1 is definitely out. Possible 2 under question is An admission from the alien of sufficient facts to warrant a finding of guilt
Do you think it was sufficient? Did you provide any facts, or did you admit any?

Or was the judgement "not guilty"?
 
Two big questions are involved here:

(1) What is considered to be "an admission from the alien of sufficient facts to warrant a finding of guilt" and how is it applicable to the facts of this case?
(2) Will the service and classes in this case be considered a punishment by USCIS? If yes, is it a punishment that warrants a finding of guilt in their eyes?

We don't have the facts or the qualifications to evaluate the above, so the OP should consult a lawyer who will see all the facts and knows the applicable laws and court precedents.
 
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(1) What is considered to be "an admission from the alien of sufficient facts to warrant a finding of guilt" and how is it applicable to the facts of this case?
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My understanding is it is relevant only If adjudication has been withheld, which is the same as Deferred Adjudication in the link from murthy site.

When the case is dismissed, it is not relevant.

(2) Will the service and classes in this case be considered a punishment by USCIS? If yes, is it a punishment that warrants a finding of guilt in their eyes?
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Even if 3) is present, but both 1) and 2) are absent, there are no immigration consequences.
 
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Obviously there are many expert advices. Take it from someone with same ( or worse) experience. File N-400 around early or mid january 09, disclose everything. MBA or good job doesn't matter. You will be OK, because it would be five years after all that mess and it won't matter than. Don't loose your sleep or confuse yourself with reading all those laws and advices. Good Luck.
 
Jackolantern said:
Two big questions are involved here:

(1) What is considered to be "an admission from the alien of sufficient facts to warrant a finding of guilt" and how is it applicable to the facts of this case?
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The OP wasn't found guilty nor was there any admission of guilt entered, so how is this relevant?

Jackolantern said:
(2) Will the service and classes in this case be considered a punishment by USCIS? If yes, is it a punishment that warrants a finding of guilt in their eyes?
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In order to be considered a conviction by USCIS, two things need to occur: 1) finding of guilt by court and 2) judge has ordered some form of punishment.
Since the OP was never found guilty, it's not considered a conviction according to USCIS definition.
Jackolantern said:
We don't have the facts or the qualifications to evaluate the above, so the OP should consult a lawyer who will see all the facts and knows the applicable laws and court precedents.
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The OP indicated that he plead not guilty and that the charges were dismissed. Unless the OP omitting that the courts somehow found him guilty, the facts presented by the OP and the article on the Murthy.com website highly suggest that it is not a conviction by USCIS standards. Of course, the OP could always hire an immigration lawyer specialized in criminal law for a few hundred dollars to tell him the same.
 
Bobsmyth said:
The OP wasn't found guilty nor was there any admission of guilt entered, so how is this relevant?
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"An admission from the alien of sufficient facts to warrant a finding of guilt" is not the same as directly admitting guilt. Remember that people have been found guilty for immigration purposes, even though they pleaded not guilty and the court found them not guilty.

You did not see the court transcript or the police report of what the OP said while being arrested, so you don't know the facts, and you have no basis on which to know whether the OP admitted sufficient facts to warrant a finding of guilt. Neither do you have the qualifications. Neither do I. The OP should rely on somebody who has seen ALL the facts of the case, who also has the qualifications to properly evaluate the facts.
 
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Case dismissed means adjudication has not been withheld (or deferred, according to Murthy classification), the case has been adjudicated. So,
2) If adjudication has been withheld is not relevant to the case.
 
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