Idris’ Story: A First Offense Doesn’t Have to Derail Your Career

Idris is a young professional. He had just started his first job. They had vetted him thoroughly and done a background check to be sure he had no criminal record. He was hired and happily building his career.

Idris had gotten a car and insured it in Massachusetts. He thought that he had signed up for an automatic debit from his bank account. Then one day he was pulled over for a random license plate stop. The officer informed him that his car had no insurance. In Massachusetts if the car is not insured it is automatically not registered.

Idris found himself in trouble and was worried he could lose his job because of a stupid oversight. He also enjoyed coaching kids’ soccer and he could lose that opportunity the next time he was CORI checked.

He came to us when he was scheduled to be arraigned. Now, Idris didn’t realize that he could have asked for a hearing before a clerk magistrate. By the time he reached out to our office, the case was too far along to get it before a clerk magistrate.

When Idris and I discussed the details of the case, it really seemed me that it was a mistake rather than a crime. I arranged a meeting with the district attorney involved in the case, and we met to discuss the merits of the case. We went over Idris’ driving record, he had one minor traffic violation but otherwise a clean record. We were able to reach an understanding. The district attorney dismissed the case before Idris was arraigned, therefore the incident would never show up on his record.

This is unusual, but occasionally when someone has a clean record we can reach out to the district attorney and show the merits of dismissing the charges. We were pleased to be able to help Idris preserve his clean record so he could get on with his life.