November 2022

Here at Banks and Brower we frequently get calls from people who had an argument, fight, or misunderstanding with a loved one. The police are called and now their loved one is facing domestic violence charges and the Court has issued a no-contact order even though they did not request one. While this can be frustrating, it is routine in Indiana and there are steps you can take to try to get this no-contact order…

The Batson challenge involves disputing the legitimacy of a peremptory challenge, alleging that it was used to exclude a prospective juror based on race, ethnicity, or gender. If the challenge is upheld, the outcome can vary but often includes the possibility of a new trial. A longtime tenant of the American judicial system is that every individual is entitled to a fair and impartial jury trial.  Over the history of the nation’s existence, the Supreme…

When the founders of our country wrote the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, photos did not exist, audio and video recordings did not exist, GPS did not exist, and everything written was on a physical piece of paper. As technology has developed over the past 250 years, Courts have sometimes struggled to take the 4th Amendment language, written in the late 18th century, and apply it to modern society. One more recent application is…

Indiana is a no-fault state, meaning that you can get a divorce in the state without the necessity of proving there was fault by either spouse.  That being said, when you’re dealing with custody of children, whether that be as part of a dissolution of marriage, post-dissolution of marriage, or in a paternity proceeding, various factors that would not be relevant for a divorce can be relevant in the Court’s determination of which parent should…