Past (criminal record) mistake
 

So if I made an mistake in hiking on private property, was charged, pleaded not guilty, did community service hours and after 6 months, case will be dismissed ....will this prevent me from being accepted to university sorority?

Well, if the property you were hiking on was the White House (though that's actually public property), it's probably not a deal breaker. Especially since the case was dismissed.

There are several lawyers on GC. Hopefully 1 of them can weigh in.

LOL!!! You and I posted almost the same thing at the exact same minute, but in different threads!!

http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/sh...86#post2395686

Great minds think alike, navane.

Accidentally trespassing shouldn't be an issue, IMO. If someone coming through rushing had that happen, I wouldn't bat an eye. Did you accidentally hike onto some nasty curmudgeon's property? LOL I can't imagine pressing charges for something like that.

If you want to know whether you have any kind of criminal conviction as a result of this, you'll need to ask a lawyer qualified to practice in your jurisdiction. That said, I can't think of any scenario where a plea of not guilty would land you any sort of sentence or probation.

If OP doesn't want to pay a lawyer, she can go to the court house and look it up in the computer.

If OP did community service as part of a sentence, she had to plead guilty. She either got a conviction or was given supervision or some other kind of diversion. A supervision in my jurisdiction results in no conviction being entered if she did her community service and obeyed the other conditions of her suspended sentence. At the end of the supervision term, the file is closed with no conviction being entered.

Trespassing (accidental or otherwise) is a big deal here in Arizona. Ranchers don't appreciate it, especially when gates are left open and livestock gets out (or worse). We don't know the circumstances of the OP's "trespassing" and the legal ramifications of same. She hasn't been back to elaborate or clarify. There's an omission (more than just a hiccup) between "pleaded not guilty" and "did community service hours". I'm thinking "was convicted" is what is being omitted.

Again, in Arizona you can look up convictions online; they are a matter of public record. Very useful tool. That's another option to what Kevin already provided.

Well YMMV from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, but she may not have necessarily had to plead guilty to get some sort of diversion. You can get there with a no contest plea, or an Alford plea (the later is probably not going to happen in a simple trespassing case).

And regarding online research.. again, that depends. Again, from state to state, YMMV. Oklahoma will show everything, absolutely everything, in some counties, even the information, complete with the Defendant's name, date of birth and social security number are available as public records, scanned on line and available for viewing anonymously. If the conviction was in municipal court, I only know of one jurisdiction in our whole state which puts any court records online.

But again, YMMV from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and if OP wants to know what is up, lawyers from out of state aren't going to be able to help.

And totally out of my "lane," but if you were a PNM in fraternity rush with a conviction for trespassing, even if it was on OSCN, so long as it was a cool story, no one would care.

Meanwhile, here in Hawaii, it's almost expected. Some of the best hikes cross over onto private property (and sometimes it's not obvious at all). But even if you knowingly trespassed here while hiking (and even if someone turned you in and you were charged), if you told the story to 100 people living here, I'm sure at least 95 of them would roll their eyes and think "So what?"

It really depends on a lot of factors, but on the face of it, this doesn't seem like something that will greatly affect your recruitment, in my opinion.

Scenario- no White House, no ranch, no livestock. We were hiking in a state park on a trail that in the past legimately went on private property. New owner now does not allow hikers, but my "friend" assured me, and 4 others, it was fine. ( my mistake, but I am not a hiker, so hence lesson learned).
Per my lawyers advice, I pled Not Guilty, facts sufficient, which was accepted by the prosecutor. I completed 20 hours of community service, and in January will have case dismissed if no other issues arise. It will be "Not Guilty, not convicted, case dismissed".
It has been horrible, and so completely out of character, and has made me feel so ashamed. I'd like to move forward and rush next semester, but I was concerned this would be a problem.

Thank you!!!!!!