Domestic Violence Misdemeanor & Med School

[Emikosma]

I've been browsing through related questions on the pre-med forum, but I'd like to get some input about my personal situation.

In 2007, I was arrested and convicted of a misdemeanor count of domestic violence. Long story short, I was at the very tail end of a terrible relationship. The man I was with was emotionally and physically abusive. I finally decided to leave him after two years. The night of the arrest, I had been out with a friend, drinking. My ex-boyfriend came over to my friend's house, pulled me out on to the street and threw me in his car. I struggled to get away from him, punching and biting him in the process. He called the police, and I was arrested.

I am working on getting this offense dismissed through the court system. I have completed 26 weeks of DV classes as part of my probation. During the course of my undergrad years, I plan to complete part of my volunteer time working with victims of abuse and pregnant teens.

In your opinion, is it possible to turn this around into a positive? Obviously a criminal record is just bad all around for my application. However, will an ample explanation, absolutely no other brushes with the law of any kind, and good volunteer experience pertaining to the offense be enough?

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[MrCheetah]

I've been browsing through related questions on the pre-med forum, but I'd like to get some input about my personal situation.

In 2007, I was arrested and convicted of a misdemeanor count of domestic violence. Long story short, I was at the very tail end of a terrible relationship. The man I was with was emotionally and physically abusive. I finally decided to leave him after two years. The night of the arrest, I had been out with a friend, drinking. My ex-boyfriend came over to my friend's house, pulled me out on to the street and threw me in his car. I struggled to get away from him, punching and biting him in the process. He called the police, and I was arrested.

I am working on getting this offense dismissed through the court system. I have completed 26 weeks of DV classes as part of my probation. During the course of my undergrad years, I plan to complete part of my volunteer time working with victims of abuse and pregnant teens.

In your opinion, is it possible to turn this around into a positive? Obviously a criminal record is just bad all around for my application. However, will an ample explanation, absolutely no other brushes with the law of any kind, and good volunteer experience pertaining to the offense be enough?

Really? If this happened exactly as you said, there is no way you should have been charged - I'd really like to read the police report on this one.

Hire a good lawyer, and MAKE SURE to get this BS charge both dismissed and expunged. I think that don't stand much of a chance with something like that on your record, no matter how well you could "explain it away"

 

[aza]

I agree that the BEST thing to do is get it expunged. I don't know what state you're in or how long it's been since you got off probation, but the volunteer work should be helpful in getting it expunged. Sometimes there are 'clean slate' programs that will provide you with a free lawyer to help with the process (assuming that you're low-income and can't afford a private attorney).

IF everything went down as you say, I agree that you should have been arrested but not charged.

Correct me if I'm wrong -- I assume that you were offered probation and DV classes for taking a guilty or no-contest plea and you went ahead and took it because there was no jail-time involved and taking the classes was a lot less time-consuming, pricey, and risky than going to trial in a he-said, she-said case?

The thing is, most people on medical school admissions committees have no practical experience with the criminal justice system.
They don't necessarily understand that with DV, charges are often brought without the police or prosecutor ever really sorting out what actually happened (especially when the police arrest both parties and both claim that they're the victim, the other party initiated it, etc).
People who have no experience with the criminal justice system often don't really understand why someone who's not guilty (for whatever reason) would take a guilty or no-contest plea instead of going to the end of the earth to prove their innocence.
With first-offense DV where there was no premeditation and no serious injuries occurred, probation and DV classes [and sometimes counseling] is a common offer. Even though some places charge an arm and a leg for the classes, it's still cheaper than paying for a lawyer to fight it. Even 26 classes may be less time-consuming and stressful than a trial. Trial can also be very, very risky in he-said, she-said situations.

I think you may have some difficult conversations that start like this:
"if it happened the way you say, why were you convicted?"
"I wasn't convicted by a jury. I took a no-contest plea"
"If your story is true, why wouldn't you maintain your innocence?"

Then you'll have to explain to them your particular reasons for choosing the deal over a trial in a way that doesn't make you look bad (which is hard). Many people THINK that they would go to trial in that situation until they're actually there. They also assume that anyone who pleads guilty or no-contest must have done the crime. I would expect that A LOT of people will have doubts about your story (the way the night of the arrest went down) and will even think you're flat-out lying to them.

If you actually WERE convicted by a jury, I wouldn't expect anyone to believe your story.

If you wind up stuck with the arrest on your record when you're applying, it may not even be worth explaining the circumstances because too many people will assume that you're lying or trying to make excuses for what happened. Even if things happened EXACTLY AS YOU SAY, you may be better off skipping some of the details, expressing contrition, taking responsibility for your mistake, and telling them how you've grown and changed since that event (or even because of that event). The volunteer work will help back you up on that.

You'll definitely need some explanation of why you chose the volunteer work. It's not self-evident why someone would go from 'convicted of DV' to 'helped the victims of DV' (it would be a more self-evident if you had, for example, volunteered to counsel the PERPETRATORS of DV or ran an anger-management class. If you're going with "I have a conviction for DV but I was never really an abuser, it would be more self-evident if you volunteered in some way to help people who had been improperly charged with DV or other crimes)
In some ways, volunteering with victims of DV doesn't really fit your narrative. It essentially boils down to "I was never really an abuser but I was improperly charged with being one. That made me want to help the victims of what I was accused of me". My reaction to that would be "huh?"
I think you'd be better off going with a narrative that boils down to "Even though my boyfriend may have been equally in the wrong, I know how awful my actions were and I take full responsibility for my bad choices. After taking classes that taught me to better manage my anger and resolve conflict, I still felt like I needed to do something to help the people who've been victimized by intimate violence". Then give your reasons for that (whatever they are) -- repaying a debt to society? Gaining better perspective on the devastating consequences of intimate violence? Whatever! Just be truthful about your motivations (unless your motivation is just to make the conviction look less bad. In that case, think of a better one!)

There IS one thing that may be on your side here:
It may be unfair, but there's still a double standard when it comes to DV. If you were a guy with a DV conviction, I'd say that you probably don't stand a chance. But a lot of people view women with DV convictions differently (i.e. they consider a woman turning violent against a man to be less 'serious' whereas a guy is immediately considered a wife-beating *******).
Certainly not EVERYONE feels that way, but in my experience it's still probably the majority reaction (and it is usually just a gut reaction, not something that people have thought through carefully).

But even if your DV conviction doesn't elicit some of the worst reactions that it would elicit if you were a man, it still calls into great question your temperament, your character, and your judgment.
The assumption will be that you had poor control of your emotions and poor judgment (at the very least - the assumptions may be far worse). Nobody wants someone who's emotionally unstable or prone to fits of rage to become a doctor. You're really going to have to convince them that this was a one-time incident and that you've changed.
(OK, I assumed here that you're a woman. I apologize if that assumption is incorrect).

Those are just my opinions. I could be very, very wrong!
and sorry if this isn't totally coherent - I'm exhausted!

 

[Cayucos]

I'm confused.

"I am working on getting this offense dismissed through the court system"

Okay, so once it is off your record.. you don't even need to tell medical schools about it. Right?

If they don't grant the dismissal (which is rare - unless you're a life criminal), I don't think there is enough articulate language that would get you in med-school - especially since 2007 was only 3 years ago.

 

[Emikosma]

I'm confused.

"I am working on getting this offense dismissed through the court system"

Okay, so once it is off your record.. you don't even need to tell medical schools about it. Right?

If they don't grant the dismissal (which is rare - unless you're a life criminal), I don't think there is enough articulate language that would get you in med-school - especially since 2007 was only 3 years ago.

In California, you can petition the court to dismiss your charge if you've successfully completed your probation and have no other charges since. I should be able to get my charged dismissed and expunged. However, I still have to answer the question about ever being convicted of a crime... etc. Of course I will be completely honest about my charge, regardless of whether there is an actual record of it or not.

Thanks, everyone for your input. I might mention that, like I said before this happened in 2007, and by the time I'm actually applying to med schools, seven years will have passed.

 

[OMG Lizards]

I'm confused. Either you are starting undergrad at 24 or you were seriously underage when the drunk fight occurred.

What was the outcome for the boyfriend? Does the police report contain a narrative of the events as you claim?

 

[Emikosma]

I'm confused. Either you are starting undergrad at 24 or you were seriously underage when the drunk fight occurred.

What was the outcome for the boyfriend? Does the police report contain a narrative of the events as you claim?

I am 25 now, and a sophomore in college. The police report, while I haven't read it in quite some time, didn't go into a lot of detail. I told the police that my ex had attacked me first, but since they arrested me, I don't think that really matters. My ex didn't get arrested at all.

I think there is a fine line here between explaining the situation and sounding like I am making excuses. I think that I will have to do my best to clear my record, be forthright about what happened and what I learned from the situation. Obviously, I don't have a history of this kind of behavior, and I have never been in trouble before or since then. I just hope that I can do enough to show that I am in a completely different place now.

 

[blaithnaid]

Certain states have an arrest someone policy (MD, for example) for certain altercations.

You got screwed in sentencing-- if the story went the way you told it, then you should have been ROR. Unfortunately if there's no doc of DV, it's all he said she said.

Get it wiped out. Regardless, if/when asked, if the above is true of your state, tell them that. You were in a bad relationship, you got out, he didn't want to let you go. It turned violent. The laws of your jurisdiction say someone has to face charges. He got to the cops first, was a better victim, whatever.

Be able to discuss what you got out of the classes, that you wanted to help other people to keep out of the position you were in, etc...

 

[Cayucos]

In California, you can petition the court to dismiss your charge if you've successfully completed your probation and have no other charges since. I should be able to get my charged dismissed and expunged. However, I still have to answer the question about ever being convicted of a crime... etc. Of course I will be completely honest about my charge, regardless of whether there is an actual record of it or not.

Thanks, everyone for your input. I might mention that, like I said before this happened in 2007, and by the time I'm actually applying to med schools, seven years will have passed.

Thanks for clarifying. It's actually a simple form (http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/invitationstocomment/documents/spr08-35.pdf).

" I still have to answer the question about ever being convicted of a crime"
Is this true though? According to California (http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/selfhelp/other/crimlawclean.htm#whatdo), "private employers cannot ask you about any convictions dismissed under Penal Code §1203.4. So, when applying for a job in the private sector, you generally do not have to disclose a conviction if it was dismissed or expunged." Would that mean you can withhold from answering "yes" to that question? If accepted into a particular medical school - would the background check include the "dismissal?" or would it be completely clean? I'm probably raising more questions then answers for you. Sorry about that

 

[Seven of Nine]

regardless, since it was at some point on the books, don't you still have to report this on residency applications? although you may not have to for the amcas, i do believe you have to disclose expunged records later on in your career. i feel like you will be explaining this for a very long time...

 

[sustentacular]

OP are you a man or a woman?

 

[Emikosma]

OP are you a man or a woman?

I'm a woman