S.Ct. Crim. No. 2010-0008

A defendant who pled guilty to the crime of obtaining money by false pretense under 14 V.I.C. § 834(1) challenged on appeal the refusal of the trial court to impose sentence pursuant to 5 V.I.C. § 3711(c), which allows for probation without conviction and for the possibility of expungement of the criminal record. The plain language of that provision, however, states that "the court may" impose the lenient treatment which the section contemplates, a discretionary rather than a mandatory action. The fact that a defendant satisfies all the prerequisites of § 3711(c) does not require that sentence be imposed pursuant to that provision. In this case there was reasonable support in the record for the trial court's findings concerning the magnitude of the criminal offense the defendant committed, and any alleged judicial error, any inaccuracies as to the exact number of victims of the crime and the number of persons in possession of the vehicle, would constitute harmless error, insufficient to warrant reversal of the trial court's decision to reject the defendant's application for § 3711(c) sentencing treatment. The judgment of the Superior Court is affirmed.