criminal defense lawyer indianapolis

Should I Hire an Expert Witness for my Criminal Case? The most common form of evidence in criminal trials is lay witness testimony.  Typically, the state will call witnesses to the stand that personally observed an alleged crime.  Prosecutors will ask the witness what the witness observed, heard, or perceived.  The factfinder (judge or jury) will then place whatever weight they deem appropriate on the witness testimony in conjunction with the other evidence presented at…

In the State of Indiana whenever someone is charged with an offense, they will fall into one of three categories: 1. Felony, 2. Misdemeanor, or 3. Infraction.  An infraction is what most of us know as a traffic ticket.  These do not carry a potential for imprisonment since they are civil matters.  Rather it means you’ll pay a fine.  A great example is a speeding ticket being an infraction.  A felony charge is one that…

Arrested at the Indianapolis 500? Now What? The Indianapolis 500, or what is often billed as The Greatest Spectacle in Racing, is typically set on the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend each year. Between the permanent seating around the track and the infield areas, there are about 300,000 people that flood the gates of the speedway each year. With that many people together in a confined area, on a holiday weekend, and probably fueled by…

A Look at Motions to Suppress Motion to Suppress, What is it and When Should it be Used One of the tools in war chest of every Indianapolis criminal defense lawyer is the Motion to Suppress.  A Motion to Suppress is basically a motion an attorney can file asking the judge to order that certain evidence is removed from the case and not able to be used in the trial due to some sort of…

Can Community Corrections Take Away Credit Time on Violations? Recently in Richard Shepard v. State of Indiana, under case number 84S01-1704-CR-00190, the Indiana Supreme Court ruled that the director a Community Corrections program lacked the authority to deprive a defendant’s good time credit. In 2013, Shepard pleaded guilty to dealing in cocaine as a class B felony and, in exchange, received an 11-year sentence in the DOC with 900 days total credit, including 450 days…

Certain counties around the state have put extensive time and resources into developing problem solving courts to help come up with creative solutions to criminal issues in our society. These courts are built around rehabilitation rather than punitive punishment to help give a different approach to certain types of crimes and situations such as drug, mental health, and veteran type issues. Although most of these programs have strict rules on eligibility, if you can get…

Surprisingly, one of the most common phone calls we receive as defense attorneys at Banks & Brower is that of a victim wanting to drop charges against a defendant and/or looking to hire us to help the defendant. And, even more unsurprisingly, as former prosecutors, these calls made up probably 50% of the calls we received when we worked for the state of Indiana. Why are they so common? The answer probably lies in the…