Osgood v. State
Annotate this Case
The Supreme Court of the State of Delaware examined the Adult Expungement Reform Act and the Clean Slate Act, which expanded eligibility for expungement and created an automatic expungement process for certain Delaware criminal records. The Acts are applicable to "all criminal cases brought and convictions entered in a court in this State" and limit expungement to individuals with "no prior or subsequent convictions." The three petitioners, Alex Osgood, Osama Qaiymah, and Eric Fritz, requested expungement of their criminal records. However, the Superior Court denied their requests due to their prior or subsequent misdemeanor convictions from other states.
The issue the Supreme Court had to decide was whether the phrase "prior or subsequent convictions" in the Acts includes out-of-state convictions. The court ruled that "prior or subsequent convictions" refers only to Delaware convictions, not to out-of-state convictions. The court reversed the Superior Court's decision and remanded the case for further proceedings in line with its opinion.
In reaching its decision, the court considered the specific language of the Acts, their purpose and legislative intent, as well as practical considerations. The court also noted that including out-of-state convictions could lead to inconsistencies and impracticalities.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.