Most people think that when someone is indicted in Ohio for a felony that there are only two possible resolutions: (1) The person will plead or be found guilty, or (2) the person will be acquitted of the charges. That is not entirely true. Ohio has a couple of alternatives that an attorney could pursue on behalf of a felony criminal defendant. First, the attorney could file a motion for Intervention in Lieu of Conviction (“ILC”). In short, ILC basically allows a person who committed a crime due to their addiction to drugs or alcohol to receive treatment for their substance abuse problems instead of a conviction and prison time. But, ILC is not available for all felony defendants and a given defendant must first be found to qualify for ILC. Ask your attorney whether you qualify (ILC is not available for certain crimes and certain offenders). If the Court accepts the ILC it will then prescribe a particular treatment program for the defendant and suspend the pending criminal action. If the defendant does what the Court demands as far as the treatment goes, the Court will dismiss the charges and the defendant can avoid a felony conviction altogether.
The second possibility is something called “Diversion.” Diversion is similar to ILC in that if the defendant is accepted for diversion and completes the program, then ultimately he or she avoids being convicted of a felony. The defendant is “diverted” out of the criminal court system and given a chance to accomplish certain goals set by the program. If the defendant successfully completes the diversion program, then the Court will dismiss the charges. However, like ILC, only certain charges and certain types of criminal defendants are eligible for a diversion program.
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scott Says:
March 15th, 2010 at 9:08 pmVisit scott
I committed a felony in 1989 and remember something about being offered the diversion program.How do i know if i completed the program?I have gone to the public records website,and it shoes that i have a criminal arrest in 1989,but it will not let me access any information.Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Scott
lawrence arway Says:
August 21st, 2010 at 5:23 pmVisit lawrence arway
had a felony charge removed from record in Ohio but also had an 8 year+ charge from Florida and that state refuses to review if you have had another State remove a charge. this prevents me from passing background checks.