Bayard, P.A. Attorney Kara M. Swasey was appointed amicus curiae by the Supreme Court of the State of Delaware to brief and argue the position of a pro se litigant, Dana Fuller, that her petition for expungement of her juvenile criminal record should have been granted by the Family Court.  Ms. Swasey briefed the issue and presented oral argument on September 17, 2014.  Ms. Fuller’s petition for expungement had been denied by the Family Court because her criminal record contained adult convictions of the motor vehicle law (Title 21) including speeding, careless driving and failure to have two headlamps.  The Family Court concluded that these Title 21 violations made Ms. Fuller ineligible for expungement under the statute which requires the petitioner to have no “subsequent adult convictions.”  In a decision issued on October 21, the Delaware Supreme Court reversed the Family Court’s decision, holding that convictions under the motor vehicle statute are not “subsequent adult convictions” that bar expungement of a juvenile record because the term “subsequent adult conviction” refers to convictions of the Titles set forth in the juvenile expungement statute.  Chief Justice Leo Strine wrote the majority opinion, joined by Justice Henry DuPont Ridgley and Justice Randy Holland.

A full copy of the opinion in Fuller v. State of Delaware can be found here.