The most important characteristic of deferred adjudication is that it is NOT a conviction. A conviction can never be removed from an individual's criminal background. Upon the successful completion of deferred adjudication an individual can immediately have a misdemeanor removed from their background. However, if the offense is a felony, the individual must wait 5 years before he or she can have their record sealed. The process for removing an arrest from an individual's background is a Petition for Non-disclosure. Once the petition is granted, an individual's record is sealed and the individual can legally deny the incident.
Deferred is not available for offenses under Chapter 49 of the Texas Penal Code. Chapter 49, includes all offense where intoxication is an element. Thus, no one can get deferred on a DWI. The only options for a DWI are not guilty or guilty.