Defendants in Kentucky who have diverted felonies are frequently not able to have their convictions dismissed/diverted because they commit some sort of misconduct during the diversionary period. We have argued that if the sentencing judge gives additional punishment to the client but leaves them in diversion they should be able to have their case dismissed/diverted at the end of the diversion period. This is important because 60 days later a person can generally have their record expunged.
The Kentucky Court of Appeals recently handed down several opinions that help our clients. See, e.g., Commonwealth v. Papp, No. 2013-CA-001133-MR (October 10, 2014). As a result of these cases, we believe prosecutors will no longer object to these cases being dismissed/diverted, especially when the judge has given the person an additional punishment but still left them on diversion.
We applaud the Court of Appeals for their common sense decisions.
