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If you've been charged with a misdemeanor criminal offense in Washington D.C. you may
be eligible for whats called a diversion program.
Instead of going to trial, or pleading guilty to your charge, a diversion program allows
you a different option that has the end result of your charges being completely dismissed
and off your record.
There are different kinds of diversion programs and there are always agreements that your
defense attorney would have to work out with the prosecutor assigned to your case.
The two main kinds of diversion programs are either a deferred prosecution agreement or
a deferred sentencing agreement. Both of these diversion programs have the end result of
your charges being dismissed without you being convicted of crime, but there's a separate
process by which you go through in order to get that end result.
When you enter into a deferred sentencing agreement you plead guilty to what your charged
with but instead of being sentenced right away like you would in a normal guilty plea
your sentencing date is pushed back or deferred by a period of six months. This gives you
an opportunity to comply with whatever the terms of the agreement are.
That can sometimes include community service, restitution order, or other terms. If you
complete the terms of your agreement then the prosecutors will allow you to withdraw
your guilty plea and they will then dismiss your charges completely.
If you don't complete the terms of your agreement, then you will be convicted of the crime and
go straight to sentencing.
Another kind of diversion agreement is a deferred prosecution agreement. This works in a similar
way to a deferred sentencing agreement, but instead of pleading guilty, the prosecutors
will agree to simply put your case on hold for a period of four months. During that time
you have not been found guilty, and you're not admitting responsibility to committing
any crime.
If you then complete the terms of your agreement the prosecutors will simply dismiss your charges.
But if you don't instead of being convicted of your crime, you can then proceed to trial,
or proceed on your case in some other fashion.
Those are the two main kinds of diversion agreements that can be reached in Washington
DC.