Whenever any person has been convicted of an offense in any court in this state and such offense has been decriminalized subsequent to the date of such conviction, such person may file a petition with the superior court at the location in which such conviction was effected, or with the superior court at the location having custody of the records of such conviction or with the records center of the Judicial Department if such conviction was in the Court of Common Pleas, Circuit Court, municipal court or by a trial justice, for an order of erasure, and the Superior Court or records center of the Judicial Department shall direct all police and court records and records of the state's or prosecuting attorney pertaining to such case to be physically destroyed.
(P.A. 83-6.)
Sec. 21a-279a reduced penalty for possessing less than one-half ounce of marijuana to a fine and therefore decriminalized said possession for purposes of this section. 315 C. 861. In the absence of a factual record, trial court directed to conduct an evidentiary hearing to determine whether defendant possessed less than one-half ounce of marijuana and, thus, whether defendant's record of conviction is entitled to erasure under section. 323 C. 756. Section does not compel erasure of probation violation that was premised on now decriminalized offense of possession of less than one-half ounce of marijuana under Sec. 21a-279a; “such case” can refer only to the case in which the person has been convicted of an offense in any court in this state and such offense has been decriminalized subsequent to the date of such conviction; “such case” cannot refer to a probation violation, which is more akin to a civil proceeding. 332 C. 639.
An act that constitutes a crime under the Penal Code is an offense under section; decriminalization of an act under Sec. 53a-71(a)(1) in P.A. 07-143 entitled person with prior conviction for committing such act to erasure and destruction of records under this section, and repeal of Sec. 53a-71 in its entirety was not required for such erasure and destruction of records. 142 CA 21. Offense was not decriminalized when reclassified as a violation because actual legalization was necessary to constitute decriminalization under section. 147 CA 232; judgment reversed in part, see 315 C. 861.