One day after the Star broke the original story, they followed up, advising that the defendant is now facing 9 felony criminal mischief charges and one count of criminal gang activity.

The tagger had apparently worked out a plea deal with the prosecutor’s office prior to his missed court date. They offered him reduced charges of 3 misdemeanor criminal mischief and one misdemeanor battery in exchange for his guilty plea. However, when he failed to show up, he backed out of his side of the agreement.

Now, he’s looking at several years behind bars if convicted on each count. In the meantime, the media has not confirmed his arrest and it appears as if the defendant is still “on the run.” He could face additional charges for failure to appear in court.

It’s very common for criminal cases to end in plea agreements like the one that was previously agreed upon in this case. As a matter of face, nearly all criminal cases are resolved with a plea bargain. However, when you don’t live up to your end of the bargain, the prosecution doesn’t have to either.

Plea bargains often exchange a guilty plea for a reduced charge or sentence. Having the prosecution enter your charge as a misdemeanor rather than the allowable felony is a common plea arrangement. Recommending probation in lieu of jail time is another.

Whether you are facing charges of possession of marijuana or theft, you will likely be approached to strike a deal with the prosecution. At that point, it is important to have a defense attorney on your side to help weigh your options.

Contact our defense attorneys today to discuss the details of your case and the charges against you. We can assist you in determining if a plea agreement is in your best interest.

Sexting between teens, the act of sending explicit photos via mobile phone or computer, is an act that is considered exchange and distribution of child pornography, under current Indiana laws. Felony criminal charges can result, as well as status as a registered sex offender.

Most people intuitively understand that this kind of behavior between 16 year olds, while regrettable and dangerous, doesn’t meet the same criminal standard as adults exploiting children.

Proposed reforms could create a separate juvenile charge that can be dealt with in juvenile courts. The juvenile justice system emphasizes education and gives kids a chance to escape the burden of  a permanent criminal record as an adult.

Pre-burial insurance policies are purchased ahead of time by people who want to ensure their burial is taken care of in the event of their death. The funeral home then cashes in the policy when that person dies, paying for their pre-arranged burial.

Forty-two year old Richard Pyke, director at R.D. Pyke Funeral Services is accused of cashing such policies in long before the burials needed to be paid for. As a matter of fact, he was cashing them in with the named insured still living.

According to this article from WLKY, Pyke has been running this scheme since 2005 and is now facing serious felony charges of insurance fraud. Pyke was arrested last week and is now being held in the Clark County jail on $25,000 bond for 9 counts of Class C felony charges.

As the article states, the insured people didn’t lose out on the scam but the insurance companies did. One of the insured, Lynne Devers states that the company has reinstated the policy at no cost to her.

Sergeant Jerry Goodin and the Indiana State Police are asking people who have purchased similar policies from Pyke to call their insurance company and be certain theirs hasn’t been cashed in as well. In total, the cashed in policies thus far were valued at more than $65,000.

White collar crimes like insurance fraud may be viewed as less serious than violent crimes, but the fact of the matter is, when they involve large sums of money, they can be just as serious.

Each Class C felony charge carries a potential 2 to 8 year sentence in prison.

There are other very serious fraud crimes related to credit cards, checks, and even identity theft. When you are facing charges like this, you need an attorney on your side assisting you with your defense. One count of identity theft and you could be facing 3 years in prison.

If you are facing fraud or bad checks charges, call me today.

Indiana’s Prosecution Assistance Unit operates out of the Securities Division and works to uncover white collar crime in our state. In an economy that seems to be boosting white collar crime numbers, this Unit is working to keep those numbers under control.

According to the Indy Star, the group of four has investigated 44 cases since its beginning in 2007. The group is made up of 2 investigators and 2 attorneys who are said to “focus on securities fraud and other complex investigations.”

Each county and or city in the state has their own ways of investigating and handling white collar crime. On the state level, however, the Prosecution Assistance Unit works to uncover fraud cases that smaller jurisdictions may be unequipped to handle. The group has brought in $50 million in fines, much of which is restitution.

White collar crime is called such because those that typically commit it are professionals. These offenses involve a financial gain through deceit or fraud. Everything from bad checks and identity theft to securities fraud can be lumped together under the white collar crime heading.

Fines are big for these offenses because judges will typically order restitution at sentencing. Restitution is simply paying a victim for their financial loss. In addition, if convicted, fraud defendants will pay fees and fines ordered by the court.

Although money is most often the motivation behind these offenses and a big part of the penalties, prison time is more likely to motivate fear in the accused.

If you are charged with a crime like this in Indiana, you could be facing years behind bars. This is exactly why it is crucial you put your confidence in an experienced defense attorney willing to go to bat for you.

Having handled many fraud cases in our state, I know what you are up against and I want to help. Contact me to discuss the details of your case and to see how I may be of assistance.

In an MSNBC special report the magnifying glass is focused on Elkhart County, where like many small Midwestern blue collar communities, the people struggle with the effects of methamphetamines.

According to the report, meth use is up once again and so is the discovery of the dangerous labs used to make the homemade concoctions. By mid-November of this year, officials in Elkhart County had discovered 100 meth labs. That’s a pretty steep increase since 2008, when only 75 were uncovered the whole year.

Meth moved into most communities like this in the late 1990s. For Elkhart it came in 2002, appealing to the factory workers in the area, giving them a boost of energy and a deceptively brighter outlook on life. The false optimism of meth quickly deteriorates, however, as its subjects lose weight, lose friends and family, and enter sleep deprived hallucinations.

Elkhart County prosecutor Curtis T. Hill Jr. is said to take a hard line on meth offenses as he sees the bigger picture, the innocent lives affected by this drug. Tougher prosecution means a more crowded court system and jails.

Elkhart County Sheriff Mike Books estimates that 75% of the people filling his jail are there because of drugs, whether directly or indirectly.  While this report highlights programs that are meant to help people once they enter the jail or prison system, there aren’t a whole lot of options on the “front end” of the system, working to prevent addiction and the crimes that come out of it.

Elkhart isn’t the only county getting tough on meth prosecution. State laws changed in 2005 to make offenses related to the drug slightly more serious.

If caught in possession of meth now, you can face felony charges. As a matter of fact, any amount less than 3 grams is a Class D felony. Yes this means you can do up to 3 years in prison for as little as 1 gram of meth.

If you are facing charges of possession or even possession with intent to distribute, I may be able to help.  High quality representation can be crucial in a case like this.

Contact me today for free legal advice about your case.

The ordinance would require business owners to clean up graffiti on their property or face having to pay for the city to do it. Business owners are up in arms about the ordinance.

Indianapolis is getting a late start on such an ordinance when compared with other major cities in the country. Many major metro areas have such orders in place.

In addition to asking business owners to take a role in cleaning up the city, it seems law enforcement is cracking down a little harder on the taggers as well.

As this Courier Journal article details, the latest Most Wanted Poster from Central Indiana’s CrimeStoppers features a graffiti “artist”. Their name isn’t known, only the “tags” they have placed all over the area.

In most cases, if you are caught doing an act of graffiti in Indiana, it is considered an act of criminal mischief. Criminal mischief is defined as recklessly, knowingly, or intentionally damaging or defacing the property of another without their consent.

The charges faced for criminal mischief depends on the value of the damage.

For instance, if the damage caused by your graffiti is valued at less than $250, it is typically a Class B misdemeanor, punishable by up to 180 days in jail and fines. However, certain circumstances can boost a criminal mischief charge all the way up to a Class D Felony.

Property crimes like criminal mischief are often considered fairly minor. However, if you are facing jail time and hefty fines, as well as a permanent criminal record, the charges are anything but minor.

Whether you are facing criminal mischief charges related to graffiti or not, chances are that I can help. Contact me today to discuss your case and the specifics. I can give you some free legal advice and tell you how I may be able to help your case.

The Fourth Amendment of our Constitution protects us against unreasonable searches and seizures. This amendment has led to hundreds of laws and procedural rules governing how searches can be conducted.

The Indiana Court ruled 2 to 1 in this decision that surrounded a case involving Arturo Garcia-Torres, who was convicted of raping and attempting rape. Police collected DNA evidence from Garcia-Torres’ truck without a warrant.

The majority opinion resulting from the Court of Appeals decision states that if the police have “reasonable suspicion” that a suspect committed a crime, they can forcibly extract a DNA sample, according to this CBS News commentary.

Although the ruling states a DNA extraction is not invasive and in fact perhaps less invasive than even a pat down search, the dissenting opinion points out the fruit of the DNA extraction is far more complex than that of other searches.

A DNA test can provide the police with information completely unrelated to the criminal investigation. Not to mention, because the case is referring to “arrests”, there will be many cases where DNA was “forcibly” extracted and the charges were eventually dropped or the defendant was found not guilty.

Although the law allows for someone to request their DNA sample be destroyed, the party has to make a request for this to happen.

There is no doubt in my mind we have not heard the last of this case. With opposing and supporting rulings popping up around the country, this is something that may eventually be addressed by the US Supreme Court.

When investigating a case and making an arrest, the police must adhere to a strict body of rules. These rules are designed to protect your rights. Occasionally the police step outside of these rules and often that can ruin the State’s case against you.

One way to know for certain that your rights are being protected is to have an aggressive defense attorney representing you in court and pouring over the details of your arrest.

Contact me today if you are facing criminal charges and need some assistance.

According to WHIO, agencies used over 9000 overtime hours to staff the crackdown and make it a success in getting suspected intoxicated drivers off the road. Roadside checkpoints, where the police make random stops, and areas of heavy officer presence led up to the large number of arrests.

In addition to the OWI arrests, the officers stumbled across other law violations, making additional arrests for outstanding warrants, possession of drugs, and illegal possession of weapons as well.

These type of crackdowns cost the state a whole heap of money, and whether they make the roadways safer is a question mark.

If you’ve ever been stopped in a sobriety checkpoint you may have become quite nervous if you had indulged in some drinks or perhaps were driving on a suspended license.

Typically at these checkpoints, your vehicle is stopped, an officer checks your license and you go on your way. However, if the officer has suspicion something else is going on or detects the odor of alcohol, you may be asked to pull off the roadway.

Seeing your arrest coming before it does is almost more frightening than having it surprise you. If you know you are too intoxicated to be driving and see flashing lights, you likely panic.

OWI is a pretty serious offense. If this is your first charge, you face potential jail time, fines, and a lengthy license suspension. If, however, this is your second or subsequent offense, the penalties are much more serious.

When facing charges like these, it is important to know the potential outcomes. Having an experienced defense attorney on your side can make all the difference in the world, not only when it comes to your results in court but also in regards to your confidence about the case.

If you are facing an OWI charge as the result of this crackdown or any other situation, I want to help. Contact me immediately to discuss your case.

The original case hinged on DNA evidence that he had been the father of the fetus of the 13 year old victim.

In the Melendez-Diaz decision, which was the basis of the challenge, the defendant did not have any ability to challenge the forensic evidence, which in this case was the identification of cocaine as an illegal substance. No live expert testimony was used to support the documentation, so there was no opportunity to challenge the facts presented. This violated the confrontation clause of the 6th amendment of the Constitution.

However, in this case, in a 3-2 vote the justices ruled that his rights had not been violated. There were two experts who testified to the validity of the DNA evidence, and the process used. One was the supervisor of the actual DNA technician who performed the test, and the other was an expert on DNA evidence.

The defense claimed that this testimony was insufficient, since the specific lab tech who analyzed the evidence did not testify. A two justice minority agreed with this point.

Under Indiana criminal penalties, the defendant was sentenced to a term of  65 years in prison.

Kiel had allegedly been drinking and was standing outside the restroom waiting. According to witnesses, Kiel had grabbed Rundle by the arm.

Police escorted Kiel to the exit of Victory Park only to find him back inside the park, yelling at Rundle moments later.  Kiel is accused of pushing an off duty police officer working security at the park and allegedly fighting with police, hitting one officer multiple times.

Kiel was booked and later released on $30,000 bond. He faces charges of resisting law enforcement, domestic battery, and public intoxication.

Because the domestic battery took place in front of Rundle’s young child, the charge will likely be filed as a Class D felony. This carries a potential maximum sentence of 3 years in prison.

People often think that domestic battery cases only involve husbands and wives and are only charged in incidences where serious injury occurs. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Domestic cases can apply to situations involving married couples, dating couples, people who share a child, or even roommates.

As you can see from my domestic battery page, the offense is defined as “knowingly and intentionally touching someone you have a domestic relationship with in a way that is rude, insolent, or angry.”

Charges like this are fairly common though we don’t often see them involving people we recognize. Facing charges like these can be stressful as the potential for a lengthy prison term looms on the horizon.

If you are facing domestic battery charges, you probably feel like you have already been judged. The criminal justice system is designed to assume your innocence until you are proven guilty. As your defense attorney I can assist you in ensuring this is the case.

Call me today to discuss the details of your case and to see how I can help.