Can a writ of mandate be used to force a police officer to erase or return a record of arrest to the public in general?

After a hearing the court found that respondents will not disseminate the record of plaintiff's arrest to the public in general, and concluded in reliance on Sterling v. City of Oakland (1962) 208 Cal.App.2d 1, 24 Cal.Rptr. 696, that respondents are under no duty to erase or return the record to plaintiff. The court therefore denied the writ, and plaintiff brought this appeal.

A writ of mandate will lie only 'to compel the performance of an act which the law specially enjoins, as a duty resulting from an office, trust, or station; . . .' (Code Civ.Proc., 1085.) More particularly, 'Two basic requirements are essential to the issuance of the writ: (1) A clear, present and usually ministerial duty upon the part of the respondent (citations); and (2) a clear, present and beneficial right in the petitioner to the performance of that duty (citation).' (People ex rel. Younger v. County of El Dorado (1971) 5 Cal.3d 480, 491, 96 Cal.Rptr. 553, 559, 487 P.2d 1193, 1199.) Inasmuch as plaintiff fails to satisfy the first of these requirements, we need not reach the second.