A step-by-step guide to expunging a conviction in California under Penal Code section 1203.4 and its companion statutes: who qualifies, how to file the CR-180 petition, how to reduce a felony to a misdemeanor first, early termination of probation, automatic record relief, and what an expungement does and does not do for jobs, licenses, immigration, and firearms.

Caught shoplifting in California? Here is what the prosecutor must prove under Penal Code sections 459.5, 484, and 488, the realistic penalties, how misdemeanor diversion and civil compromise work, the merchant's civil demand letter, and the defenses that actually get cases dismissed in Riverside, San Bernardino, Los Angeles, and Orange County courts.