Anyone who has a CORI (Criminal Offender Record Information) knows, even a Not Guilty or Dismissal from 20 years ago will continue to haunt you for the rest of your life. Try going for a job or applying for a license to carry and see how that Not Guilty or Dismissal is viewed. Innocent until proven guilty is supposed to be one of the guiding principles of law in our nation. However the actual application is far closer to, Once charged, always guilty!
Why should an acquitted person continue to suffer the consequence of that charge remaining on your record. Try applying for a job with a record that includes a Not Guilty on a Domestic Assault & Battery or Breaking & Entering. Why should you live with the stigma of the charge after being exonerated. Every prosecuters holds Dismissals and Not Guilty against the defendant when a new charge arises. It is assumed that the Not Guilty was merely the result of hiring the right lawyer. The assumption is that the person committed the crime, they just beat it on a technicality or a sharp lawyer. We have a mentality in this country that you are guilty if charged.
Some states allow for charges to be "expunged" whereby the charge is permanently removed from your record (CORI). In Massachusetts, although we do have the expungement in the General Laws under M.G.L. c.258, §7, the actual application only applies to very specific situations where the wrong person was wrongly charged. In all other instances, the remedy is "sealing" where although certain segments of the population can no longer see the charge(s), they remain on your CORI.
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