S. Ct. Civ. No. 2016-0007

In ruling on a petition for expungement of the applicant's arrest records the Superior Court erred when it treated the petition as one for discretionary expungement under 5 V.I.C. § 3733(b)(2) of the Virgin Islands Code. The record reflects that petitioner's assault case had been dismissed because he successfully completed a pretrial intervention program, and that his domestic violence case had been dismissed with prejudice. He also provided proof, in the form of a certified arrest record from the Virgin Islands Police Department, that he had no other pending arrests. Although at the time the petition for expungement was filed, § 3732 provided that certain expungements were discretionary rather than mandatory, the Legislature has decreed that the provisions of the expungement law apply retroactively, 5 V.I.C. § 3741, meaning that the petitioner should receive the benefit of the change to the law achieved on July 30, 2015-almost two months after the expungement petition was filed-when the Legislature enacted Act No. 7742. Thus, each of petitioner's convictions is subject to mandatory expungement pursuant to § 3732(1) and (3). Petitioner was therefore not required to make any showing of extraordinary circumstances to warrant expungement. Accordingly, the Superior Court's December 30, 2015 judgment is reversed and the case is remanded with instructions to grant the petition.