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A young Brookfield man who successfully completed his probation was automatically entitled to have his marijuana conviction expunged — as a judge originally ordered — even though he was later arrested, causing the judge to change her mind.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court on Thursday reversed a lower-court ruling, which concluded Kearney Hemp had missed his chance for expungement. The court heard oral arguments in the case last month in Waukesha, as part of its annual Justice on Wheels program, which brings court operations around the state.

Reversal improper

In its ruling, the high court found that now-retired Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Jean DiMotto improperly exercised her discretion when she reversed the decision she made at sentencing to find Hemp, 24, eligible for expungement.

For people under 25, Wisconsin law allows expungement of convictions for offenses that carry no more than a six-year prison term as a maximum sentence.

Hemp pleaded guilty in 2010 to a single felony count of possession with intent to distribute marijuana. He was sentenced to 30 days in jail and other conditions of an 18-month term of probation.

DiMotto ordered expungement upon successful completion of the probation. By December 2011, Hemp finished the probation successfully.

But it wasn't until late 2012 that Hemp's lawyer filed a form seeking expungement. By that time, Hemp was facing new charges in Walworth County of drunken driving and possessing marijuana.

The new charges prompted DiMotto to ask Hemp to explain why he should get the prior conviction expunged. Unsatisfied with the answer, she denied the expungement, and Hemp appealed.

Hemp's attorney argued that the law doesn't require the extra petition for expungement, that it was granted at sentencing and became effective without extra steps by the defendant, when he successfully completed the probation.

Extra hoops

In Thursday's ruling, the high court found that defendants should not have to jump through extra hoops after completing probation in order for an expungement to take effect.

Legal Action of Wisconsin, which filed a friend of the court brief in the Hemp case, said the ruling corrects a common problem.

"Our investigation revealed that many times, the expungement paperwork was not filed by prison officials and the expungement never went through," attorney Erica Sweitzer-Beckman said in a statement. "Clients learn of this error when the conviction continues to appear on their record when they're applying for jobs, for example. If it had been expunged, it would not be appearing on their records."