Indianapolis Appellate Attorney Blog – Should I File an Appeal, and How Does an Appeal Work? – Many people (or loved ones) call our office after being convicted of or sentenced for a crime. They want to know what, if anything, may be done to undo what has occurred or to minimize the effects. Occasionally we receive calls from people with similar questions about various types of civil cases. For example, decisions by a judge…
Specialized Driving Privileges: Indiana’s New Hardship License -. Have you been patiently (or impatiently!!!) sitting by the sidelines unable to drive for what seems like forever? Or, have you been driving when you aren’t supposed to, constantly checking your rear-view mirror for police officers? Well it appears there may be good news on the horizon. In fact, you may finally be able to get your license back — not only if you thought you would never…
Parole is similar to probation in many ways, but there are important distinctions that are important for persons facing time in the Indiana Department of Correction to understand. In many cases parole will follow completion of one’s executed sentence. An executed sentence may be any number of years served in prison, but the number of years one actually serves may be reduced due to various types of credit time and time cuts that are available. …
A Quick Look at Indiana’s Statutes on Intimidation, Harassment, and Stalking Before you post that nasty comment about someone on Facebook, or before cyber stalk…you might want to think about whether that communication or internet spying might cross the line. In this blog the Indianapolis Criminal Defense Attorneys of Banks & Brower will focus on two of the most common communication-based criminal charges: intimidation and harassment,both of which seem to be filed more and more often, especially with the advent…
Sentence Modifications after the 2014 Indiana Criminal Code Overhaul – In this blog the Indianapolis Criminal Defense Attorneys at Banks & Brower look at sentence modifications. A sentence modification is a mechanism by which a person convicted of a crime can seek to have the length or placement of the sentence changed after some portion of his or her sentence has been completed. For example, a person may seek to have a few years trimmed…
As many of you are aware, our General Assembly this year passed a comprehensive overhaul of our criminal code. Some of the changes have been highlighted in previous blogs, and this week’s post takes a look at the habitual offender enhancement in its current form. What is a habitual offender? Habitual offender enhancements are used to increase the penalty for a given crime based on an individual’s criminal history. The habitual offender enhancement must be…
I’ve Been Charged with Theft – Now What? Recently we highlighted for you the significant changes that have taken place with respect to felony offenses in Indiana. One change in particular merits special attention as much for its significance to many criminal defendants (and practitioners) as for its effect of making the punishment more proportional to the crime. Prior to the change in the law effective July 1, 2014, the theft statute read as follows:…
Jail Phone Calls — Is Someone Really Listening? YES! One of the biggest temptations for any defendant once they get behind bars is to call loved ones. Obviously, anyone in that situation would feel the need to reach out to their support group for help, advice, and/or direction. However, and almost without fail, we see instance after instance of inmates talking about the facts of their case to loved ones. And, in almost every single…