Everybody's situation is different, so there can always be an exception to the rule. However I have never seen an appeal won with any kind of violent record. If we lived in a shall issue state I'd say the pardon would help him, but since this is a may issue state I am not sure the pardon plays any beneficial part in the judges decision. With that said, I have been surprised a couple of times. One guy "lied" on his application about having a dui conviction (Have you ever been convicted of any alcohol related offenses?) turns out he had one in PA years ago. The judge was going to deny him on that alone, however all 5 of his references wrote comments about how wonderful the guy was and since doing that was so unusual the guy was approved. BTW, when asked why he "lied" his response was he thought the question only applied in Delaware, a response the judge did not accept.