Criminal Defense

Indiana’s civil forfeiture laws were addressed by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2019 and in a law passed in the state General Assembly in 2018. This year, however, another Senate reform bill was also introduced, and the state Supreme Court will review a case on whether...

Closed-circuit television (CCTV) is a common form of security used by businesses to prevent crime and to aid police if the cameras capture the commission of a crime. The CCTV cameras in a convenience store in Indianapolis recently captured the image of a man accused...

A difficult economy this past year has led to a surge in allegations of white collar crime, in particular online identity theft, as the ranks of the unemployed have grown and people have gotten more desperate. In one recent report in Indianapolis, a case of stolen...

Assault and battery, while often paired together, are two different criminal charges. The main difference is that battery requires an intentional physical act and injury, while assault requires an imminent threat of physical harm, but no physical contact. Assault and...

In Indianapolis and across Indiana, when people are alleged to have committed a crime, it is not uncommon for them to face multiple allegations in different categories of offenses. When criminal charges are stacked up, they may face severe consequences with a wide...

There are numerous schools of thought about how much behavior should be legislated. Many argue that as legislators criminalize more and more actions, the more likely it becomes that average citizens will be treated as criminals. And because laws can be selectively...

All 50 states in the U.S. recognize theft as a crime, setting value thresholds between a misdemeanor and a felony charge. However, each state maintains different thresholds between the charges. While a person may spend a night in county lockup for stealing $300 in...

In late August, U.S. Representative Jim Banks of Indiana’s Third District proposed a new bill to the House of Representatives. Backed by Republican senators, the Support Peaceful Protest Act introduces new penalties for those convicted of a federal crime during a...

An arrest for drunk driving or drug possession doesn’t need to begin with a suspicion of these specific crimes. In fact, police officers typically only need the thinnest of excuses to pull over a driver. From there, they can further investigate the driver or the...

As a general rule, technology evolves much faster than the laws that govern it. Because of this, many new technologies can be used toward ends that most of us would consider a violation of privacy rights, and even a violation of our Constitutional rights. And because...