Probation Pursuant to DC Code 48-904.01(e)

Criminal Lawyer explains probation pursuant to DC Code 48-904.01(e) Good afternoon ladies and gentleman. My name is Mark Rollins. I’m an attorney here in Washington, DC. I am licensed in the state of Maryland, as well as in the District of Columbia. My office is located here in the District of Columbia. Today I want to just talk to you about probation pursuant to 48-904.01(e) and what that means. If you’re charged with any type of possession of drug in DC and you’ve not been convicted in any other jurisdiction in the country then you are eligible for probation under 48-904.01(e). I know it’s a long word in the DC code and basically all it says is that, again if you’ve not been convicted of any other prior drug offences the court, with its discretion, can order that you serve your probation under those terms. Essentially the terms are that you must be convicted of a possession offence. It cannot be possession with intent to distribute any drug. It cannot be distribution. It must be just possession of that drug. The probation must be under one year. You must complete any conditions set by the court. Typically the court says drug testing and treatment as deemed necessary by probation. If there’s a drug issue, but you complete the treatment program, as provided by your probation officer, then upon lapse of that one year your record will be expunged. The beauty to 48-904.01(e) probation, as opposed to other diversion options, is that the entire record is expunged from the public record. Unlike some of the other diversion options that are offered, such as deferred prosecution agreement, deferred sentencing, amended sentencing, those others; there’s a whole bunch of them on diversion options. Under 48-904.01(e) your entire record is expunged. That doesn’t mean that law enforcement still can’t access it, but it means that the general public cannot access it, and that’s a big distinction when you’re applying for a job. There won’t be a public record of that conviction. It’s very similar to Maryland’s probation before judgment and some other jurisdictions where they call probation before judgment. That’s basically all it is that you’re basically getting probation before the actual judgment or conviction. I hope that helps and if you need to talk more about that or want more explanation, feel free to call our office and I’ll be more than happy to discuss that with you. Thanks for contacting us.