House Judiciary Committee debates pro se access to sealed records and embezzlement waiting period

The House Judiciary Committee met May 14 to consider changes to a sealing and expungement bill, focusing on whether defendants who represent themselves should be explicitly allowed to use sealed criminal-history records in their own defense and whether embezzlement should be treated differently from other offenses for sealing timelines.

Committee members said the immediate question is narrow: make explicit in statute that a defendant — including a pro se defendant — may use a sealed criminal-history record in their defense. Committee members also reopened a longer-running debate about whether felony embezzlement should be excluded from the bill or subject to a longer waiting period (10 years) rather than the seven years the committee has used previously.

The committee heard that Marshall Hall had raised concerns about how sealed records could be used outside court, and that Judge Zonay reviewed proposed language and “said from his perspective, it’s fine.” Members also…