Collateral Consequences to a Criminal Charge Everyone knows when you are charged with a criminal case you could face jail time, probation and a fine. However, many times the possible consequences someone suffers can be far reaching and make resolving the case much more complicated. When discussing your case with your attorney you need to make sure you consider how a case might affect you in other ways. Immigration Issues If you are not a…
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…
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…
One of the main questions a defendant asks when facing a potential criminal offense is, “who is the best criminal defense attorney in Indiana?” And, if you think about it, that makes sense. Criminal cases have the potential to have lifelong consequences. So, it leads to reason that anyone who is facing a criminal offense is going to try to track down the best criminal attorney for their particular case. The list below is meant…