March 2014

In today’s blog we take a look at the statutes governing a person not competent to stand trial and the process one must go through both if the regain competency or if they don’t.  Lastly, we look at the leading case in this area and what happens when a person is charged with a crime but cannot ever regain competency.   Comprehension to Stand Trial: 35-36-3-3 Substantial probability of attainment of comprehension to stand trial;…

A Look at Indiana’s Most Common Drug Dealing Statutes More and more often, our firm receives calls of defendants being charged with dealing in drugs; thus, it goes without saying that detectives and the state of Indiana must be focusing more and more on charging people with it. That’s because whenever drugs are involved, police and prosecutors are actively looking to add a dealing charge on top of any possession charges they may file. Why?…

In today’s blog, we look at what qualifies a building to be a “dwelling” for purposes of the Indiana burglary statute.  There is a huge difference.  If a person burglarizes a building that isn’t a dwelling then it is a Level 5 Felony and the potential is for 1 to 6 years in prison, however, if the building qualifies as a dwelling, then the crime is a Level 4 Felony and the penalty jumps all…

Failure to Appear — The Consequences Both Criminally and Civilly – When it comes to any criminal or civil matter before a court, without question, one of the biggest mistakes a defendant or party to a civil matter can do is fail to appear for court. Any failure to appear (or “FTA,” as many refer to it) has consequences that may have significant ramifications on your case moving forward. A failure to appear is just…