Hi, I need help...

Here's my story in a nutshell:
1998 arrested, charged, plead guilty to a minor charge
1999 completed sentence
2000 went to US, my crime does not make me ineligible to enter
2002 went back to Canada permanently
2002 applied for pardon after 3 years 2 months no arrests, no police activity, conviction was "summary"
2003 received pardon (five months waiting time)
2004 fingerprints reveal no criminal record in Canada, I have no problems getting a job due to the criminal records purge associated with a pardon (yes, I know they can revoke it if I get myself arrested again, which I haven't)

Here's the problem... okay, I was arrested, charged and convicted in the province I lived in. In 1997, my ID was stolen, and a background check done THIS YEAR, revealed two criminal charges in my name at a court house in a city I did not live in. The charges showed on the court record as withdrawn, but the clerk could not tell me why they were withdrawn or what happened.

I asked when the charges occurred, she told me 1997, but she told me most criminal records are removed from her computer after five years. The police department (or arresting agency) has no record of any arrest in my name, or fingerprints being taken (in my name), so it's as if it does not exist to the arresting office or RCMP, as no search has revealed a criminal record.

How do I get the darned court house to erase it? They claim they can't erase any charges from their system, but since I don't have a criminal record, and I was never charged with those offences (so I can honestly say I wasn't arrested for those charges), I can only guess that the person who stole my ID used it in the commission of a crime (which fits right in with what they were charged with), and the charges were withdrawn after fingerprints were taken and checked with the RCMP. But somehow the court did not just "change the name" of the accused, they withdrew charges against *me* and re-layed them, or some such thing. I don't know how to get this corrected. I just know that I'm now going to fail a background check (should an agency choose to check court records instead of police records) because of an error, and this bugs me. the new background checks being conducted are including all arrests, non-convictions, withdrawn offences, convictions, conditional and absolute discharges, and criminal related records in the name of "mentioned person". I don't even know if this is legal in Canada, because I have a record, but it's illegal to use this record I have as discrimination because the offence is pardonned, and it's not a sexual offence.

Any advice would be appreciated... I'm pissed off. My ID was stolen 10 years ago and I'm learning of a consequence of it like, right now... because I didn't have a clue. It was bad enough finding out in 1999 that in 1997 a whole slew of checks were written in my name, but since the bank account was closed and deleted two years prior to this happening, the bank where I had my account told me to relax and not worry about it. It's not like I wrote the checks or anything, and in Canada, issuing a bad check is rarely treated as a criminal offence. Usually that's a civil offence (where the person you pay takes you to court personally). I found out about the missing checks in 1999 after I took my boxes out of storage and unpacked them, several checks were missing, but the checks were in storage because I moved, and closed the account while the stuff was packed away. So I didn't even notice. the bad checks may have had something to do with why a charge was laid in the first place, but the court couldn't tell me, just the nature of the offence. It looks very bad for any kind of job I want. My own real record won't exclude me (if they take the offence into account), but the withdrawn charges that I was never charged with myself, that's kind of serious.

Sapphyre

perhaps you can find out the date, and location that the charges were withdrawn and then you can order a copy of the court transcript. that is the only way you will know 100% what happened in court that day with respect to the charges being withdrawn. also order a copy of the court information for the charges, request a certified copy. Once you have these documents I can help you move forward to make attempts to have your record fixed.

A lawyer can clear this up very easily, or you can do it yourself with a trip to your local Reference Library.

There is a legal form that you fill out, if memory serves correct I believe it is a 997 order. Either way, what it is, is a legal document, entered into court, that under the Charter of Rights, every single charge ever laid in your name, when filed, whichever police agency laid the charge, has 90 days from receiving the request from the court: to check the finger prints at the time of arrest, against your current prints on file (FPS number), confirming that it was you, any charge that they can't or don't get back to you (the courts) within 90 days - is removed. Even if it was you, and finger prints confirm it was you, if they take longer than 90 days - sometimes the paperwork shuffle can take time - the charge will be removed.

Obviously the charges that are not you in the first place, will not have your finger prints on file from the arrest, therefore the charges, even though they are withdrawn are removed.

Hi Rob,
Thanks for the information, this is very informative. So it seems that anything confirmed that is not actually me can be removed.

A few more questions... can I request the court that convicted me to remove the record of the charge that had been pardonned? Can I get them to remove any charges that were laid at the same time (but withdrawn because the complainant recinded) which are on record as withdrawn, and are against me? (This applies to a different province... the charges that were not me were in one province, i was charged, convicted and pardonned in another province. Also, I was arrested for one offence, but charged for more than one offence later on... the charges that I was not actually arrested for that were added later were withdrawn after the judge reviewed the evidence).

Thanks in advance,
S.

A lawyer can clear this up very easily, or you can do it yourself with a trip to your local Reference Library.

There is a legal form that you fill out, if memory serves correct I believe it is a 997 order. Either way, what it is, is a legal document, entered into court, that under the Charter of Rights, every single charge ever laid in your name, when filed, whichever police agency laid the charge, has 90 days from receiving the request from the court: to check the finger prints at the time of arrest, against your current prints on file (FPS number), confirming that it was you, any charge that they can't or don't get back to you (the courts) within 90 days - is removed. Even if it was you, and finger prints confirm it was you, if they take longer than 90 days - sometimes the paperwork shuffle can take time - the charge will be removed.

Obviously the charges that are not you in the first place, will not have your finger prints on file from the arrest, therefore the charges, even though they are withdrawn are removed.

It may take a little work to clear this up as much, as legally possible. Due to post 911 era, and alot of pressure from the USA it seems are laws are in constant change.

You should speak to an attorney in the Province where your charges were. You might also want to Goolge 'USA Waiver', because alot of the information you seek will be listed on these government and private sites.

As you received a pardon in the past, for those charges you should be able to have everything, including the police finger prints destroyed.

A criminal record has two parts, convictions and sentences, and any charge ever laid, even if it was staid or withdrawn. Makes you look fairly guilty even if it wasn't you!

It sounds like you have a provincial pardon, and then a new provincial conviction in a different province. This is where the legal advice will come in.

If you plan to do any travel to the USA, pardons don't matter anymore. The USA now has access to our cpic data bass. As long as you don't have any outstanding court dates, you can obtain a waiver (for a fee), ironically all the terrorist stuff, and it still comes down to money.

In the meantime, goodluck on your quest.

Hi Rob, I don't know how to cut and paste, so I'll do the best to try and respond to your points.

About the waiver, I don't seem to need one. I get asked if I've been arrested, I admit to what I was arrested for. That is the same charge I was convicted and sentenced for. (In one province where I lived for a period of time). When i went to court on that charge, it appeared there was something new that was added, but I was not charged with that at the same time, or fingerprinted for that second charge. It was withdrawn sometime in the two months between my first appearance in court, and my second appearance where the judge heard evidence, and a deal was made... ie. I just plead out, in exchange for the lowest possible sentence. My reason for not wanting to plead out in the first place were: having a record, having a sentence that I could not live up to... ie starting a history of criminal behaviour as a result of not being able to pay fines and being charged again for failure to pay, etc., possibly doing jail time while suffering from mental illness... and the fact that mental illness and refusal by the hospital to help me was the reason for my outburst which lead to the assault (although I was assaulted first by this person, witnesses say otherwise... so I have no grounds there, I believe I was provoked and not stable enough to think rationally and walk from the situation... I'm going to live with that, it's how it is).

When I showed up in court, I had more than one assault charge, but I was told specifically at the station when I was printed who had charged me with assault, what the section was of the Criminal Code of Canada, etc. They also told me I wasn't banned from anywhere, just to not speak to the person in question who I assaulted. Funny how these things go, said person approached me on the street, followed me 1 block to my house, and threatened to call the police on me. I went home, and phoned his boss. this all happened because I unknowingly showed up at this man's place of work, but I didn't know he worked there, I'd never been there before.

It gets more complicated than that, because he alleged other things, and had me arrested for tresspassing at his store when I never set foot in his store after I found out he worked there. And then he tried to have me charged with harassment. Might I mention I didn't know this man's name until the evidence was given in court for me to look at what I was being accussed of? It's the most obsurd crap I ever read when I was in a sound mind (months later), and I just copped to the assault because I did it, and I told the judge what happened. Yeah, I'm guilty, I hit someone, so I paid the fine and took the sentence. All the other crap was thrown out, but although I was arrested for tresspassing (totally bogus if I wasn't actually doing it), none of the other BS stuck. He made complaints that didn't result in arrest, I was just shocked that I had more than one assault charge considering I was not arrested for more than one count at the time. Maybe a clerical error?

So I'd really like for the record of the second assault to be removed, but as far as the US is concerned, one assault, two assault... if it didn't result in injury, I didn't go out intending to assault or hurt anyone, I didn't actually hurt anyone, I wasn't carrying a weapon or on drugs, and I didn't use a weapon... they don't have a problem with that situation. I even told the guy at the border that the person I assaulted had "hit me, so I hit him back." I explain it as a reaction, I didn't intend to hit him nor did I want to. I just don't like bully guys like him. (Oh yeah, he got fired from his job within a week of my appearing in court, his "witness"/friend, got fired too. His friend tried to harass me, and I complained to his manager because his friend was supposed to be in a position of trust, he abused that and made false police complaints.) Funny how that goes, I never saw either of them again in my neighbourhood after I plead in court, but they tried to make my life hell while I awaited my day in court.

I've been told that my records are not destroyed because of the Pardon. I was Pardoned by the National Parole Board of Canada, it is a Federal Pardon, and I have papers to back that up. I could carry those papers with me to the border, but I don't see the point. Nothing shows on my CPIC unless I have the fingerprinting service trigger to retrieve my record (which I'd have to do for certain jobs, even though I've been pardoned... I can't drive a school bus, for instance). They seal the record and will reopen the file if I reoffend.

Now, in another province, where I did not live or travel to at the time (my ID was stolen), there is a court entry for two charges that are in my name with my date of birth, but the police department, RCMP, and CPIC have no record. I had already been fingerprinted prior to this happening, so the RCMP already knew who I was. when I attempted to retrieve my record from the local police department, they told me I had to go through fingerprinting to verify my identity (with fingerprints). I'm not sure if it's because of this court record or not... From what I know, if my information is correct, the arresting force has already destroyed their records of who they fingerprinted, or they have changed the name so their records do not have my name any longer. The court on the other hand, still has the record that a charge was entered against me and later revoked.

But you know what? The US asks me if I've ever been arrested, to me that means they don't care about convictions and sentences. I can't say I've been arrested for these charges, because I, myself, was never arrested. I never appeared in court, I was never summoned, convicted, or appeared in regards to any proceedings. It would be fair to say that the last time I crossed the border, I didn't even *know* about this, since I found out only recently when I got hired for a job, and background checks were done. They need to know everywhere I lived for the past 5 years, and the city that this record appears is a place I lived in two years ago (only for about eight months, but I just moved there to be with my boyfriend... I never lived there before or spend any time there... so it's a total coincidence, had I not been living there in the past five years, no one would have thought to check with local court house to see if I had a file... I find that totally eerie... I had no background checks done on me at all for any job before, and the last job I was checked on, I was still in the previous province, and I had my prints done which revealed my CPIC record. this was for a Federal gov't job). So no one during this time alerted me to the fact I had withdrawn charges, if they saw that, they might not have hired me. The charges laid are the kind that will prevent anyone from hiring me because of stereotype, it won't matter that it wasn't me who was charged, or that I didn't do it.

So, I have to wonder... if the charge was laid and withdrawn, since I was never fingerprinted in this matter (as it wasn't me who was arrested), is that why nothing has ever shown up on CPIC? Even when I actually had a record, and sent in my prints, the only stuff to show up is what really happened (that I actually did, was charged and convicted of). would that have to do with the fact my prints and file with the RCMP isn't tied to that offence?

I was also told by the court house in question that 5-7 years is generally how long they keep files in the computer before purging... I suppose longer if the person in question is a repeat offender. why would 10 years have passed and these charges not purged? If the 5-7 year time frame was accurrate, I never would have known, because I wouldn't have failed a security check last week. I'm bent out of shape, because CPIC doesn't show anything, right now my prints come back clean, but there wasn't even a hint ever before about this, and it was never brought up in court during my sentencing (you'd think that would be important, I was treated like a first time offender, because I was... but had charges been laid against me prior to my sentencing, that should have been brought up. I could have been tipped off about this ten years ago and dealt with it then instead of finding out now when my life is back in order).

S.


It may take a little work to clear this up as much, as legally possible. Due to post 911 era, and alot of pressure from the USA it seems are laws are in constant change.
You should speak to an attorney in the Province where your charges were. You might also want to Goolge 'USA Waiver', because alot of the information you seek will be listed on these government and private sites.
As you received a pardon in the past, for those charges you should be able to have everything, including the police finger prints destroyed.
A criminal record has two parts, convictions and sentences, and any charge ever laid, even if it was staid or withdrawn. Makes you look fairly guilty even if it wasn't you!
It sounds like you have a provincial pardon, and then a new provincial conviction in a different province. This is where the legal advice will come in.
If you plan to do any travel to the USA, pardons don't matter anymore. The USA now has access to our cpic data bass. As long as you don't have any outstanding court dates, you can obtain a waiver (for a fee), ironically all the terrorist stuff, and it still comes down to money.
In the meantime, goodluck on your quest.

Here is what you need, Google - "Criminal code - 667", it'll list the Canadian criminal codes, then click on "667".

what you require is; Certificate of Conviction or Discharge - section 667 (1) (c) criminal code.

When I was in Metro East Detention Centre, I met a British Citizen, who grew up in Ontario, then moved to Florida to run his parents bar. He was charged in a serious hit and run, let out on bail, returned to Canada and never showed up in court.

Eventually he was arrested in Ontario, he had 2 DUI convictions, which the courts in Florida were adding time to his deal because of them. His lawyer filed the motion above, out of 9 convictions in Ontario, 3 including one DUI had to be removed because the repective courts took too long returning the info. These were 3 charges he was guilty of!

In your case, it's rather simple, due to the fact it isn't you in the first place. The police that initiated the charge have the burden to prove it was you within 90 days of being notified of the motion. They must match finger prints taken at the time of the arrest, with prints on file in Ottawa, failure to do that, the record must be destroyed.