Learn about a criminal conviction in Pennsylvania. In Pennsylvania, a conviction is the verdict that results when a court of law finds a defendant guilty of a crime. The opposite of a conviction is an acquittal (i.e. “not guilty”).
No criminal system is perfect and both guilty people can be acquitted and innocent people are convicted, even where due process is followed. In Pennsylvania, both criminal and traffic matters begin at the district magistrate level in most of the sixty seven counties in Pennsylvania (excluding Philadelphia with its Traffic Court, Municipal Court and Criminal Court systems).
Appeal mechanisms mitigate this problem to some extent. An error which results in the conviction of an innocent person is known as a miscarriage of justice.
After a defendant is convicted, the court determines the appropriate sentence as a punishment. Furthermore, the conviction may lead to results beyond the terms of the sentence itself. Such ramifications are known as the collateral consequences of criminal charges. A minor conviction is considered, in a term, a warning conviction, and it doesn’t affect the defendant, but does serve as a warning.
The outcome of a criminal prosecution which concludes in a judgment that the defendant is guilty of the crime charged. The juncture of a criminal proceeding during which the question of guilt is ascertained. In a case where the perpetrator has been adjudged guilty and sentenced, a record of the summary proceedings brought pursuant to any penal statute before one or more justices of the peace or other properly authorized persons.
The terms conviction and convicted refer to the final judgment on a verdict of guilty, a plea of guilty, or a plea of nolo contendere. They do not include a final judgment that has been deleted by a pardon, set aside, reversed, or otherwise rendered inoperative.
The term summary conviction refers to the consequence of a trial before a court or magistrate, without a jury. Whether you are facing a criminal conviction for a misdeanor, felony, summary offense or traffic matter, a record is available to the public that can be used against you unless you take steps to clear you record.
Learn more about the effect of a criminal conviction by contacting Ciccarelli Lawyers at (877) 529-2422.
We are Pennsylvania trial lawyers based in the greater Philadelphia region in Kennett Square Pennsylania. Ciccarelli Lawyers is experienced in representing our clients in expungement in pardon matters to get their records expunged. Our primary practice area includes all of the greater Philadelphia region including Chester County, Delaware County, Montgomery County, Philadelphia as well as Berks County, Bucks County and Lancaster County.
