“My kid can tell the judge…..” is a something all family law attorneys hear from clients. The reality is it is not a simple decision to involve children in a proceeding. Even though there are no laws against having children testify in a court proceeding, it is very uncommon and often discouraged by judges. If a judge feels a child can contribute valuable information, the judge may choose to speak to the child(ren) privately. Before…
A Quick Look at Inventory Searches after an Arrest Getting pulled over can be an unsettling experience regardless of one’s familiarity with the law. Understanding the interpretation of both the U.S. Constitution Fourth Amendment and Article 1 §11 of the Indiana Constitution is instrumental when presented with a situation where a police officer searches your vehicle. While citizens have the constitutional “right to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable search…
Are you living in the United States as an immigrant or noncitizen status? If you find yourself in legal trouble you could be facing more than just conviction as a consequence with deportation looming over your head. In a recent Supreme Court decision, Lee v. United States, 582 U.S. (2017), the Court reversed a criminal conviction by a noncitizen after he was given erroneous advice by his counsel, leading to his mandatory deportation. This is…
There is a gamut of procedures that the courts must follow that encompasses criminal law. First, it is reported that someone has allegedly committed a crime. Second, there must be probable cause to try that individual for that specific crime, and in the justice system, everyone is innocent until proven guilty. Third, the defendant has a choice to enter a plea agreement or proceed forward with a bench trial or a jury trial. If the…
One of the most common charges we see as criminal defense attorneys is the crime of operating a vehicle while intoxicated. This many times comes with the charges of Operating a vehicle with a BAC of .08 to .14 or Operating a vehicle with a BAC of .15 or more. But, where do those BAC results come from? In Indiana the primary source is a breath test machine. In today’s blog we take a closer…
A paternity affidavit is a legal document that, “permits a man and a woman to declare, under penalty of perjury, that the man is the biological father of a child”. Paternity affidavits are not required to prove paternity when a child is born during a marriage or within 300 days of a divorce. In those situations, the husband of the biological mother is presumed to be the biological father of the child. For situations where…
May 9, 2017 the Indiana Supreme Court made a ruling in the case of Thomas Pinner v. State of Indiana under case number 49S02-1611-CR-610, holding that the sole fact a person has a gun is not a sufficient reason for the person to be stopped and searched. In February 2015, a taxi driver called the police after a man and a woman got out of his cab because when they exited, the man dropped a…
So you have been charged with a low level felony or a misdemeanor and you absolutely cannot have a conviction on your record, now what? A diversion or deferral might be something that could work for you depending on a number of factors. The law in Indiana (IC 33-39-1-8) provides that those who have committed low level crimes or are first time offenders are sometimes able to dismiss their charges. This is called a diversion…
This page has been written, edited, and reviewed by a team of legal writers following our comprehensive editorial guidelines. This page was approved by Founding Partner, Brad Banks who has more than 20 years of legal experience as a criminal defense attorney.