Do I Need To Disclose? Forum

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smartwater

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Do I Need To Disclose?

Post by smartwater » Fri May 14, 2010 4:11 am

I got into a T20 school but have a question about disclosure.

When I was 13, I was charged with a felony. I did not enter a plea; instead, the case was handled pursuant to the "Informal Handling" section of the CA Welfare and Institutions code, which required me to complete 6 months of probation, upon which the charges were dropped. Though I was never convicted, I have subsequently had my juvenile record sealed. If the law school asked "Have you ever been convicted of a felony?" do I need to disclose this?

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Drake014

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Re: Do I Need To Disclose?

Post by Drake014 » Fri May 14, 2010 4:17 am

smartwater wrote:I got into a T20 school but have a question about disclosure.

When I was 13, I was charged with a felony. I did not enter a plea; instead, the case was handled pursuant to the "Informal Handling" section of the CA Welfare and Institutions code, which required me to complete 6 months of probation, upon which the charges were dropped. Though I was never convicted, I have subsequently had my juvenile record sealed. If the law school asked "Have you ever been convicted of a felony?" do I need to disclose this?
No, you were not convicted. In general, minors are not convicted of crimes. They're adjudicated.

lawyerhopefull

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Re: Do I Need To Disclose?

Post by lawyerhopefull » Fri May 14, 2010 4:27 am

many lawschools still want any crimes that removed from record. That would count.

Get your FBI background check, see if its on it.

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Lonagan

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Re: Do I Need To Disclose?

Post by Lonagan » Fri May 14, 2010 5:59 am

This would have been better to consider before you applied. Had you disclosed this in your application it would likely have had close to no effect on your outcome. Now, however, you potentially hid it. That's a big deal. What exactly did your school ask about re: criminal disclosure?

It is hard to know without knowing exactly what your school asked for, however, it seems there is a decent likelihood you have a problem here.

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trialjunky

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Re: Do I Need To Disclose?

Post by trialjunky » Fri May 14, 2010 6:29 am

Read the application carefully, they make it very clear what they want you to disclose when they get to the C&F portion.

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ScaredWorkedBored

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Re: Do I Need To Disclose?

Post by ScaredWorkedBored » Fri May 14, 2010 9:00 am

I'm almost certain that the law school would have asked for "Have you EVER been charged with a felony..." although it was probably worded to include a lot more than that. Unless the language SPECIFICALLY EXCLUDED sealed juvenile offenses, they wanted to know about this.

Absent that language...yes you should have disclosed it. Yes, you certainly need to disclose now. C&F is not going to believe you "forgot" about a felony arrest and deferred disposition.

smartwater

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Re: Do I Need To Disclose?

Post by smartwater » Fri May 14, 2010 9:56 am

To wit, the 2 relevant questions were:

"Have you ever been convicted of a felony?"
"Have you been convicted of a misdemeanor in the last 5 years?"

There was no language about being charged, previously expunged records, etc. I specifically did not apply to NYU because I could not answer their version of the question honestly without weakening my application substantially.

Given these 2 questions, do I need to disclose? Will C&F have a problem if I answered these 2 questions honestly but did not volunteer information beyond what I was asked?

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MC Southstar

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Re: Do I Need To Disclose?

Post by MC Southstar » Fri May 14, 2010 9:57 am

smartwater wrote:To wit, the 2 relevant questions were:

"Have you ever been convicted of a felony?"
"Have you been convicted of a misdemeanor in the last 5 years?"

There was no language about being charged, previously expunged records, etc. I specifically did not apply to NYU because I could not answer their version of the question honestly without weakening my application substantially.

Given these 2 questions, do I need to disclose? Will C&F have a problem if I answered these 2 questions honestly but did not volunteer information beyond what I was asked?
Just answer the fucking question as it was asked.

/thread

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TTH

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Re: Do I Need To Disclose?

Post by TTH » Fri May 14, 2010 10:17 am

MC Southstar wrote:
smartwater wrote:To wit, the 2 relevant questions were:

"Have you ever been convicted of a felony?"
"Have you been convicted of a misdemeanor in the last 5 years?"

There was no language about being charged, previously expunged records, etc. I specifically did not apply to NYU because I could not answer their version of the question honestly without weakening my application substantially.

Given these 2 questions, do I need to disclose? Will C&F have a problem if I answered these 2 questions honestly but did not volunteer information beyond what I was asked?
Just answer the fucking question as it was asked.

/thread
Well stated, my friend.

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Lonagan

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Re: Do I Need To Disclose?

Post by Lonagan » Fri May 14, 2010 5:20 pm

smartwater wrote:To wit, the 2 relevant questions were:

"Have you ever been convicted of a felony?"
"Have you been convicted of a misdemeanor in the last 5 years?"

There was no language about being charged, previously expunged records, etc. I specifically did not apply to NYU because I could not answer their version of the question honestly without weakening my application substantially.

Given these 2 questions, do I need to disclose? Will C&F have a problem if I answered these 2 questions honestly but did not volunteer information beyond what I was asked?
You chose not to even apply to NYU because of an arrest when you were 13? Failing to disclose this does not appear to be your only poor decision.

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traehekat

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Re: Do I Need To Disclose?

Post by traehekat » Fri May 14, 2010 6:05 pm

Lonagan wrote:
smartwater wrote:To wit, the 2 relevant questions were:

"Have you ever been convicted of a felony?"
"Have you been convicted of a misdemeanor in the last 5 years?"

There was no language about being charged, previously expunged records, etc. I specifically did not apply to NYU because I could not answer their version of the question honestly without weakening my application substantially.

Given these 2 questions, do I need to disclose? Will C&F have a problem if I answered these 2 questions honestly but did not volunteer information beyond what I was asked?
You chose not to even apply to NYU because of an arrest when you were 13? Failing to disclose this does not appear to be your only poor decision.
smartwater he is not...

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GATORTIM

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Re: Do I Need To Disclose?

Post by GATORTIM » Fri May 14, 2010 6:07 pm

smartwater wrote:To wit, the 2 relevant questions were:

"Have you ever been convicted of a felony?"
"Have you been convicted of a misdemeanor in the last 5 years?"
Maybe you missed this word on the app

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acadec

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Re: Do I Need To Disclose?

Post by acadec » Mon May 17, 2010 12:33 am

k now i'm curious. what felony did you commit when you were 13?

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