RONALD STEVEN POLESKI, APPELLANT,
v.
THE STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. 3d DCA | 1979-05-29
No. 78-2055
Before PEARSON, HUBBART and SCHWARTZ, JJ.
371 So. 2d 548 Florida District Court of Appeal, Third District (1979) Caution
Cited by 6 cases

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Synopsis

Poleski, who successfully completed a pre-trial intervention program and had a felony drug possession charge nolle prossed, sought to seal his arrest record. The court properly unsealed the records because Poleski had been convicted of a related DUI offense arising from the same arrest, and Florida law prohibits expungement when multiple related charges are involved and not all are resolved favorably.


Holding

The trial court properly unsealed Poleski's arrest records because the statute prohibits expungement when there are multiple related charges arising from the same arrest and the relief sought does not include all charges or the charges were not all resolved by acquittal or dismissal without adjudication of guilt.


Headnotes

[1] A court may not seal arrest and court records related to a felony charge when the defendant was also charged with other offenses arising from the same incident and was no…

[2] A prior conviction for driving under the influence may preclude the sealing of records for a related felony charge that was nolle prossed.

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Key Quotes

“If a person who has never previously been convicted of a criminal offense or municipal ordinance violation is charged with a violation of a municipal ordinance or a felony or misdemeanor, but is acquitted or released without being adjudicated guilty, he may file a motion with the court wherein the charge was brought to expunge the record of arrest from the official records of the arresting authority The court shall not enter an order expunging the records as above provided when there are several acts, or said person has been charged with several offenses originating out of or related to [the offense] and when the charge and adjudication of nonguilt did not include all such charges or all such several acts.”

This quote presents the controlling statute that prohibits expungement when multiple related charges are involved and not all are resolved favorably.

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Facts & Procedural History

On August 14, 1977, Poleski was arrested for driving under the influence and felony possession of quaaludes. He was convicted of the DUI charge in Oct…

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Opinion of the Court
SCHWARTZ, Judge.

SCHWARTZ, Judge.

The defendant below appeals from an order unsealing his felony arrest record and court file, which had been previously ordered sealed pursuant to Section 901.33, Fla.Stat. (1977). See Johnson v. State, 336 So. 2d 93 (Fla.1976); Fla.R.Crim.P. 3.692. We affirm.

The record shows that on August 14, 1977, Poleski, who had not then been convicted of any offense, was stopped by a Hialeah police officer when he was observed driving his car in an erratic fashion. After the officer placed him under arrest for “driving under the influence,” in violation of § 316.028, Fla.Stat., a search of his person turned up two bags of quaaludes, with the possession of which he was then also charged. As to the latter offense, a felony, Poleski was informed against in the Dade County Circuit Court. After he had successfully completed the pre-trial intervention program, however, the information was nolle prossed on January 25, 1978. In the meantime, however, he had been convicted of the d.u.i. charge, apparently in the County Court, on October 4, 1977.

On May 15, 1978, without revealing his d.u.i. conviction, Poleski moved for an order sealing the arrest and court records of the felony possession charge. The court granted the motion on June 19, 1978. After the Department of Criminal Law Enforcement brought the d.u.i. conviction to the trial judge’s attention, she entered the “order unsealing court file” which is now under review. That order was properly entered.

The controlling statute, Section 901.33, Fla.Stat. (1977)1 provides:

“If a person who has never previously been convicted of a criminal offense or municipal ordinance violation is charged with a violation of a municipal ordinance or a felony or misdemeanor, but is acquitted or released without being adjudicated guilty, he may file a motion with the court wherein the charge was brought to expunge the record of arrest from the official records of the arresting authority The court shall not enter an order expunging the records as above provided when there are several acts, or said person has been charged with several offenses originating out of or related to the offense or offenses for which such person had been charged and not found guilty, and when the charge and adjudication of nonguilt did not include all such charges or all such several acts.” [emphasis supplied]

The emphasized provisions of the statute apply directly to Poleski’s situation. Plainly, there were “several acts” involved in the defendant’s August 14, 1977 arrest. It is also clear that the d.u.i. charge was directly “related to” the possession offense which was nolle prossed. Cf. State v. Zawistowski, 339 So. 2d 315 (Pla. 1st DCA 1976). Since the nolle prosse did not include the d.u.i. offense, of which, to the contrary, the defendant was found guilty, the very terms of the statute demonstrate that he was not entitled to the relief sought.2

Affirmed.3

. In Johnson v. State, 336 So. 2d 93 (Fla.1976), the statute was held partially unconstitutional on a point not involved in this case. The invalid provisions were modified and adopted as Fla.R.Crim.P. 3.692.

. The facts of this case demonstrate the wisdom of the proviso in the statute which is applicable here. Both the d.u.i. and the felony possession charges were incorporated into the same “A” or arrest form. Thus even an ex-pungement of the felony charge would not eliminate the reference to those same charges in the unsealed County Court files involving the d.u.i.

. The trial judge based the ruling below upon her conclusion, which was acknowledgedly directly contrary to State v. Zawistowski, 339 So. 2d 315, 316 (Fla. 1st DCA 1976), that the statute applied only if the defendant had not been “previously convicted” of another offense as of the time that the file was to be sealed rather than, as of “the time of the arrest,” as the First District held in Zawistowski. Since we affirm upon another ground, we do not resolve this issue.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Williamson v. State, 510 So. 2d 1052 (Fla. 3d DCA 1987)
    …l records containing criminal history information.’ “7. That the Court shall not enter an order sealing or expunging criminal records where the Court has ascertained that there were ‘several acts’ involved in a defendant’s arrest. Poleski v. State, 371 So. 2d 548 (Fla. 3rd DCA 1979). “8. That the Court, having broad discretion and considering the seriousness of the circumstances of the defendant’s arrest and the State’s memorandum in opposition to Defendant’s petition, has sufficient reason to deny the seal…
    1 / 2
  • Thomas v. State, 513 So. 2d 163 (Fla. 2d DCA 1987)
    …nt was involved in contempt in the civil action out of which these charges arose and because the state did not file on two other charges in exchange for the appellant’s plea of nolo contendere to one charge. The state’s reliance on Poleski v. State, 371 So. 2d 548 (Fla. 3d DCA 1979), to support this contention is misplaced. Poleski was decided under the predecessor statute, section 901.33, which contained language no longer present in section 943.958(2). The fact that two other charges had not been prosecuted…
  • A.J.M. v. Fla. Dep't of Law Enf't, 15 So. 3d 707 (Fla. 3d DCA 2009)
    …rtment, to seal “only a portion of a criminal history record pertaining to one arrest or one incident of alleged criminal activity.” Our current interpretation of the statute is consistent with this Court’s prior interpretation in Poleski v. State, 371 So. 2d 548 (Fla. 3d DCA 1979). In Poleski, the trial court ordered the unsealing of Poleski’s arrest record and court file, which had previously been sealed, because Poleski had been adjudicated guilty of one of the “acts” involved in his August 14, 1977 arres…

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