Brass knuckles in CT

[KaneToad]

I was arrested for possession of brass knuckles nearly ten years ago here in Connecticut. Went to court, the prosecutor told me to pay the clerk 50$ and that was the end of it.

Ive wanted to go and obtain a long gun or perhaps a pistol permit for a long while now, but I dont want to waste the time and money just to get denied.

Can anybody tell me if this is enough for them to deny me? Please excuse my total ignorance on these matters of law.

 

[dcmdon]

What matters is what the $50 was to pay for.

Was it just court fees? Did you plead to another charge?

Unlike MA, being arrested or tried for something isn't directly relevant. If you paid court fees and the charges were dropped, then all records of the event have been removed from all databases in CT. Further, it is legal for you to answer the question (if charges were dropped) "have you ever been arrested" with NO.

In CT, if charges are dropped or you are acquitted, it is like it never happened.

Do you have any idea what happened to the original charges? Please tell me you didn't plead nolo contendre (sp?). Which results in a conviction on your record.

This is different from another common CT resolution to something like this which is a nolle. When something is nolle'd the charges are held and if you don't have any more trouble for 18 months, they are dismissed. (which means it never happened).

Don

Please read this.

https://www.cga.ct.gov/current/pub/chap_961a.htm

Here it is, simplified by me with it broken up to be easier to read.

Sec. 54-142a. (Formerly Sec. 54-90). Erasure of criminal records. (a) Whenever in any criminal case, on or after October 1, 1969, the accused, by a final judgment, is found not guilty of the charge

or the charge is dismissed,

all police and court records and records of any state's attorney pertaining to such charge shall be erased upon the expiration of the time to file a writ of error or take an appeal,

if an appeal is not taken, or upon final determination of the appeal sustaining a finding of not guilty or a dismissal, if an appeal is taken.

Nothing in this subsection shall require the erasure of any record pertaining to a charge for which the defendant was found not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect or guilty but not criminally responsible by reason of mental disease or defect.


(c) (1) Whenever any charge in a criminal case has been nolled in the Superior Court, or in the Court of Common Pleas,

if at least thirteen months have elapsed since such nolle,
all police and court records and records of the state's or prosecuting attorney or the prosecuting grand juror pertaining to such charge shall be erased,

(3) Any person who shall have been the subject of such an erasure shall be deemed to have never been arrested within the meaning of the general statutes with respect to the proceedings so erased and may so swear under oath.

 

[KaneToad]

Don, I thank you for your in-depth response to my question. I didnt plea anything that I am aware of. My case wasnt even taken to the court room, I went up to the prosecutor before hand, she was giving alot of people a hard time, but she was nice as pie to me.
"You got a job", Yes maam.
"Okay, go give the clerk 50$, you are all set", Yes maam.

I assume this was a nolle but I know little to nothing of how the law works. I will go to the police station to get a copy of my police records to find out for sure.

 

[JAD]

What matters is what the $50 was to pay for.

Was it just court fees? Did you plead to another charge?

Unlike MA, being arrested or tried for something isn't directly relevant. If you paid court fees and the charges were dropped, then all records of the event have been removed from all databases in CT. Further, it is legal for you to answer the question (if charges were dropped) "have you ever been arrested" with NO.

In CT, if charges are dropped or you are acquitted, it is like it never happened.

Do you have any idea what happened to the original charges? Please tell me you didn't plead nolo contendre (sp?). Which results in a conviction on your record.

This is different from another common CT resolution to something like this which is a nolle. When something is nolle'd the charges are held and if you don't have any more trouble for 18 months, they are dismissed. (which means it never happened).

Don

Please read this.

https://www.cga.ct.gov/current/pub/chap_961a.htm

Here it is, simplified by me with it broken up to be easier to read.

Sec. 54-142a. (Formerly Sec. 54-90). Erasure of criminal records. (a) Whenever in any criminal case, on or after October 1, 1969, the accused, by a final judgment, is found not guilty of the charge

or the charge is dismissed,

all police and court records and records of any state's attorney pertaining to such charge shall be erased upon the expiration of the time to file a writ of error or take an appeal,

if an appeal is not taken, or upon final determination of the appeal sustaining a finding of not guilty or a dismissal, if an appeal is taken.

Nothing in this subsection shall require the erasure of any record pertaining to a charge for which the defendant was found not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect or guilty but not criminally responsible by reason of mental disease or defect.


(c) (1) Whenever any charge in a criminal case has been nolled in the Superior Court, or in the Court of Common Pleas,

if at least thirteen months have elapsed since such nolle,
all police and court records and records of the state's or prosecuting attorney or the prosecuting grand juror pertaining to such charge shall be erased,

(3) Any person who shall have been the subject of such an erasure shall be deemed to have never been arrested within the meaning of the general statutes with respect to the proceedings so erased and may so swear under oath.

For pistol permits, there are 2 issues.

Issue 1 is statutory eligibility. Issue 2 is suitability. Absent other circumstances, a case that was disposed of in a way that did not result in a conviction does not trigger statutory ineligibility. An issuing authority deny an applicant if he believes that the applicant is not suitable. Denial based on suitability does not require any arrest or conviction (e.g. some suitability denials are based on things such LE knowledge of mental health/ MHCC-1 history, police awareness of behavior that has not resulted in criminal charges or convictions, driving history, police awareness of alcohol or substance use involvement, etc...). The erasure statute that DCMDON referenced provides a layer of protection to people who are appealing denials because law enforcement (1) shouldn't have the rescords in the first place and (2) if they do, are not supposed to use records of arrests resulting in a non-conviction disposition as exhibits or to inform/refresh the memories of personnel defending the denial or testifying a witnesses for the issuing authority. An issuing authority can rely on the recollection of personnel who were personally aware of the situation and can also have them testify in defense of the issuing authority's decision to deny at a BFPE hearing.

 

[JAD]

delete- meant to edit, not reply.

 

[In God We Trust]

In MA anything you are charged with is on your record forever. I could go to the police and tell them you raped me. You would be charged with rape, the charges would of course be dismissed and for the rest of your life, you would be a rapist anytime a cop ran your info.

I have a BS felony on my record from when I was 14 years old. At the age of 40 I still got my balls busted by my chief in a green town for it. I got the LTC, but had to write him an essay. Hope you are not in MA.

 

[Rob Boudrie]

In MA anything you are charged with is on your record forever. I could go to the police and tell them you raped me. You would be charged with rape, the charges would of course be dismissed and for the rest of your life, you would be a rapist anytime a cop ran your info.

I have a BS felony on my record from when I was 14 years old. At the age of 40 I still got my balls busted by my chief in a green town for it. I got the LTC, but had to write him an essay. Hope you are not in MA.

1. No, the charges would not "of course be dismissed". You would have been required to go to trial or take a plea bargain, even if you had video proof you were in another state when the rape was alleged to have occurred. The system does not like to go away unfed, and the ADAs main concern is preserving their "win" record .

2. I assume the felony was not a conviction, otherwise you would be a PP in MA. That stuff about "this comes off your record at age 18" is a lie in MA.

 

[dcmdon]

JAD - the issuing authority won't know about the issue that may cause them to want to deny an applicant, if the charges were dismissed.

Then there is the BFPE. If you aren't statutorily prohibited, they will order the IA to issue you a PP.

 

[JAD]

JAD - the issuing authority won't know about the issue that may cause them to want to deny an applicant, if the charges were dismissed.

Then there is the BFPE. If you aren't statutorily prohibited, they will order the IA to issue you a PP.

Even without records, they may find out. For example, if the individual were applying in the town where (an erased arrest occurred), an officer who was involved may become aware of the application (e.g. through chain of command, by having a role in processing the application, by informal communications with colleagues, etc...) and may recall things.

You're claim about BFPE is oversimplified. They have the ability to overturn an issuing authority's decision an applicants ability for being unsuitable but also have option to uphold it if the issuing authority can prove their case by preponderance of the evidence.

 

[dcmdon]

Practically speaking it is rare when the BFPE denies someone who is not a prohibited person.

Also we're not talking in absolutes. Generally, a nolle or dismissal means a clean slate. Like a judge said to my friend when my charges were dismissed after he was arrested in new haven for having an exposed uncased shotgun in his car, "This NEVER happened".

 

[allen-1]

What matters is what the $50 was to pay for.

Was it just court fees? Did you plead to another charge?

Unlike MA, being arrested or tried for something isn't directly relevant. If you paid court fees and the charges were dropped, then all records of the event have been removed from all databases in CT. Further, it is legal for you to answer the question (if charges were dropped) "have you ever been arrested" with NO.

In CT, if charges are dropped or you are acquitted, it is like it never happened.

Do you have any idea what happened to the original charges? Please tell me you didn't plead nolo contendre (sp?). Which results in a conviction on your record.

This is different from another common CT resolution to something like this which is a nolle. When something is nolle'd the charges are held and if you don't have any more trouble for 18 months, they are dismissed. (which means it never happened).

Don

Please read this.

https://www.cga.ct.gov/current/pub/chap_961a.htm

Here it is, simplified by me with it broken up to be easier to read.

Sec. 54-142a. (Formerly Sec. 54-90). Erasure of criminal records. (a) Whenever in any criminal case, on or after October 1, 1969, the accused, by a final judgment, is found not guilty of the charge

or the charge is dismissed,

all police and court records and records of any state's attorney pertaining to such charge shall be erased upon the expiration of the time to file a writ of error or take an appeal,

if an appeal is not taken, or upon final determination of the appeal sustaining a finding of not guilty or a dismissal, if an appeal is taken.

Nothing in this subsection shall require the erasure of any record pertaining to a charge for which the defendant was found not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect or guilty but not criminally responsible by reason of mental disease or defect.


(c) (1) Whenever any charge in a criminal case has been nolled in the Superior Court, or in the Court of Common Pleas,

if at least thirteen months have elapsed since such nolle,
all police and court records and records of the state's or prosecuting attorney or the prosecuting grand juror pertaining to such charge shall be erased,

(3) Any person who shall have been the subject of such an erasure shall be deemed to have never been arrested within the meaning of the general statutes with respect to the proceedings so erased and may so swear under oath.

I had a felony arrest years ago in Connecticut. The charges were nolled.
As was explained to me, (by my attorney):
1) If I was subsequently charged within the next 13 months, the charges from the original arrest would also be pressed at that time.
2) If I went 13 months without being arrested/charged - the charges would be nolled. I could then legally state that I'd never been arrested.

A) It was a very long 13 months.
B) It's been interesting filling out firearm permit applications which typically ask "have you ever had your permit in this state or any other state denied or revoked?" along with "have you ever been arrested?". I've been very, very careful about filling out those applications.

 

[JAD]

Practically speaking it is rare when the BFPE denies someone who is not a prohibited person.

Also we're not talking in absolutes. Generally, a nolle or dismissal means a clean slate. Like a judge said to my friend when my charges were dismissed after he was arrested in new haven for having an exposed uncased shotgun in his car, "This NEVER happened".

(Color added for distinction)

If you watch BFPE hearings, or review the minutes, it is fairly common for individuals who have been denied based on suitability (but who are not statutorily prohibited) to find their denial or revocation upheld. Each case is individual- and is dependent on the facts (at both the time of the denial or revocation and at the time of the hearing) specific to the case/appellant/situation. Let's consider the statistics from the last two meetings that minutes are available for, 12DEC2019 and 9JAN2020.

On 12DEC2019, there were hearings scheduled. Six were denials, eight were revocations. Of the six that were denials, 1 was withdrawn by the appellant, 4 were ruled in favor of the issuing authority, and 1 was ruled in favor of the appellant. With respect to the revocations, 2 were withdrawn by the appellant, 1 was withdrawn by the appellant based on an agreement for the state to reissue, and the rest were ruled in favor of the state. (Most of the appellants whose revocations were upheld failed to appear, who knows what would have happened if they actually had participated in the hearing as opposed to settling for guaranteed outcome of default ruling based on FTA).

On 9JAN2020, 12 hearings were scheduled. Four were revocations, eight were denials. On the denials, five were overturned, two were upheld, and one was withdrawn by the appellant. On the revocations, the board voted to uphold two, the appellant withdraw one, and one appellant withdrew based on an agreement to reissue.

That reflects the ability for an individual to legally say, under oath, that they had never been arrested. It is also associated with the legal requirement that the records associated with the case be destroyed within a specified time frame. What it does not take away is the underlying events that occurred (e.g. That a police officer initiated a traffic stop and observed_______________________. OR Officer _______________ recalls that on _____________________ dispatch sent him to _________________ because ____________ and upon arriving at scene __________________________ happened)