I think a "criminal record" means a conviction of criminal charges. The person JM punched in the face dropped charges, as did the police. He was a lawyer and just wanted his medical expenses covered, didn't want to go to court, was willing to let it go.
Story of JM's life. He got a lot of reprieves from getting a criminal record because a lot of people let his deeds go, rather than pressing charges and taking it to court. He would have then truly had a criminal record, though I don't know if that assault case where he hit the driver would have meant a DNA swab taken from him. I believe certain charges have that and others don't. He was never charged with anything that got him swabbed so his DNA was not in the system.