California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Scott M., 167 Cal.App.3d 688, 213 Cal.Rptr. 456 (Cal. App. 1985):
The proceedings contemplated by section 851.8 occur after any state action or criminal proceeding has terminated favorably toward the defendant, and the right to have records expunged is a purely statutory one, invoked against the state at the request of the subject of the records. (See Loder v. Municipal Court (1976) 17 Cal.3d 859, 132 Cal.Rptr. 464, 553 P.2d 624, cert. den. 429 U.S. 1109, 97 S.Ct. 1143, 51 L.Ed.2d 562.) Nothing in the cited cases, nor anything brought to the attention of this court by appellant, suggests that an indigent who is acquitted after being prosecuted for commission of a felony has any right to counsel or to a transcript of proceedings with regard to a postprosecution proceeding initiated by himself against the state.
The above passage should not be considered legal advice. Reliable answers to complex legal questions require comprehensive research memos. To learn more visit www.alexi.com.