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IU McKinney students in Professor Carrie Hagan's Civil Practice Clinic have filed two amicus briefs in cases that seek to clarify how Indiana's expungement law will be applied. As it stands now, some clients may see significant delays in reaping the benefits of the state's law that allows some convictions to be diminished or erased from their criminal record.

IU McKinney 4L Brendan Haile is preparing to make his first oral argument before the Indiana Supreme Court February 20 in Naveed Gulzar v. State of Indiana, No. 19A-XP-00637. Gulzar was convicted of Class D felony theft in 2006, and successfully petitioned the court to reduce his conviction to a Class A misdemeanor 10 years later. Indiana's Second Chance Law went into effect in 2013, providing a path for people to file for expungement of criminal records. Gulzar petitioned the trial court for an expungement in 2018 and was denied. In its decision, the trial court counted the date in 2016, when his sentence was modified, as his new conviction date. The Indiana Court of Appeals agreed, and this appeal ensued. At issue here, the students argue, is the definition of "conviction."

"I am doing research over case law and other similar decisions, researching statistics from clients we have had as part of the clinic, and I will be mooting the oral argument with Mr. Gulzar's counsel prior to the actual oral argument," Haile said. "I had never imagined that I would argue in front of the Indiana Supreme Court in my lifetime, let alone while I am still in law school. I am certainly looking forward to the opportunity!" Haile and 3L Libby Whitaker worked on the amicus for the Gulzar case together.

Students also filed an amicus in Brian J. Allen v. State of Indiana, No. 15D01-1811-XP-44, a case that originated in Dearborn County and is now under consideration by the Indiana Court of Appeals. Allen was convicted of conspiracy to commit burglary. He was not convicted of a crime involving serious bodily injury. Someone was seriously injured during the burglary. That injury precludes Allen from receiving an expungement, the trial court decided. The Civil Practice Clinic students disagree. 3L Sherell Scott and Whitaker worked on the Allen amicus brief.

"Decisions like these take what was meant to be a reward and turns it into a punishment," Scott said.

In light of these recent decisions, clients also don't know when they will be available to take advantage of expungement, Whitaker said. "We don't want to file for expungements, get a decision like this, and throw off their eligibility date," she said.

All the students are certified legal interns under the supervision of Professor Hagan in the Civil Practice Clinic. They teamed up with Goodwill Industries in Indianapolis in 2015 to help with the expungement process for some of its employees. That partnership continues, and the clinic has worked with Ivy Tech Community College to offer pop-up expungement clinics in 2019. Professor Hagan and her clinic students are a regular part of the annual Re-Entry Job and Resource Fair.

The work of the Civil Practice Clinic in these cases has caught the attention of Indiana Lawyer. That story notes there is a bill under consideration by the Indiana General Assembly which may clarify some of the questions the courts are now considering.

In the photo from left are Libby Whitaker, Grace Dillow, Professor Carrie Hagan, Sherell Scott, and Brendan Haile.