Should I Talk to the Police? – South Bend Criminal Defense Lawyer

Posted on October 30, 2011 by jeffhaupt

The police have brought you in to question you about a crime? Are you a suspect? Or do they just want to see what information you may have about a particular crime? How do you know?

Good question! Remember the 5th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and Article 1, Section 14 of the Indiana Constitution allow you the right to remain silent. If you were arrested you should have been told this right when your “Miranda Rights” were read to you. It is probably the most important right that you have in a criminal investigation.

Do the police have to be honest with me?

The police may or may not have evidence that you have committed a particular crime. They do not have to inform you of what evidence they have or don’t have. They don’t even have to be truthful in what they say to you. But, if you start offering up statements, even in denial, you can make their job of showing you committed a crime a lot easier.

How? For instance, if you deny that you did anything wrong, but admitted to being at the place where a crime happened you may have just given the police a piece of evidence they didn’t have before. Perhaps they had no clue whether you were at the scene of the crime, but now they can place you there because of the statement you made denying the crime.

Ask to Speak to a Lawyer

The best way to handle the matter, ask to speak with a lawyer. Do this in a polite manner, without denying or admitting anything. The fact that you ask to speak with a lawyer cannot be used against you in a court case, and isn’t an admission of guilt. At this point, the police should stop talking to you until your lawyer arrives. Your lawyer will be in a better position to determine what, if anything should be said by you.

if the police have contacted you about a crime, contact my law office. i will work with you to make sure your rights are protected.

The Law Office of Jeffery M. Haupt is located in South Bend, Indiana and helps people handle family law issues such as divorce, parenting time, child support, paternity, and child custody, criminal defense matters, DUIs, theft charges, and license suspensions. The information in this blog should only be used for educational purposes and not be construed as legal advice. Nothing in this blog creates an attorney-client relationship between me and any readers of this blog. No attorney-client relationship is created until you have a document from me saying so. DO NOT POST ABOUT CASE PARTICULARS IN THE COMMENT SECTION.

You’ve Been Arrested, Now What? – South Bend Criminal Defense Lawyer

Posted on October 26, 2011 by jeffhaupt

Once you are arrested you will be processed at a jail. If you are arrested in South Bend, Mishawaka or anywhere in St. Joseph County, Indiana this will all happen at the St. Joseph County Jail. Being processed after being arrested involves photographs, fingerprints, and other identification processes occurring. While you may be confused as to why you have been arrested or maybe angry, it is always important to remain quiet and polite during the process. Any charges you are facing will be handled in the courtroom, not at the jail.

Bonds After Being Arrested

In some cases a bond amount may already be set even if you haven’t been in front of a judge. If you can afford to have someone post the bond for you then you can be released once the bond is secured. There are situations where a bond may not be set at that moment or you may have a warrant from another jurisdiction that would make your immediate release impossible. Other situations in which a bond may not be set include parole or probation violations and murder charges.

Initial Hearing Following the Arrest

The next step in the process of being arrested involves you appearing before the Court for an Initial Hearing. The Initial Hearing should occur within 36 hours of your arrest, however there are situations when this doesn’t occur within that time frame. For the most part, the Initial Hearing does occur rather quickly.

At the Initial Hearing, the Court will inform you of the charges that have been filed against you and let you know what bond amount, if any, has been set. If you have not obtained a lawyer for the initial hearing, the Court will ask you at this point about your plans to get a lawyer. This is typically the point where the Court will determine whether you qualify for a public defender if you have requested one. More often than not, the Court continues the Initial Hearing to another date so that you can have a lawyer present.

Once you have a lawyer, the Court will address the the matter of your initial plea, which is usually entered as not guilty. Also, the Court will give you, your lawyer, and the Prosecutor several different dates. These dates are generally called the Omnibus date, the Record Date, and the Trial Date. The Omnibus Date is important in terms of the Prosecutor being able to modify charges. The Record Date is used as a deadline for the sides to attempt to reach a plea agreement and if one cannot be reached to inform the Court that they are proceeding to trial. Finally, the Trial Date is just that, the day (or days) your case will be presented to either a judge or a jury.

At this first hearing with your lawyer, you will be able to ask the Court to consider reducing the bond amount or releasing you on your own recognizance while dealing with this matter. The State can also ask that the bond be increased or be denied altogether. Ultimately, this matter will be up to the Court to decide. If you do remain in custody during the proceedings, the Court will work want to work more quickly to get your case to trial, than if you are released on bond.

if you have been arrested and need a criminal defense lawyer, contact me today

Good Faith Exceptions to an Invalid Search Warrant – South Bend Criminal Defense Lawyer

Posted on August 22, 2011 by jeffhaupt

For the most part when a search warrant is issued, it typically will be valid. Often times suppression of evidence arises out of situations where there wasn’t a valid reason for the search in the first place, such as a traffic stop without probable cause. There are occasions when even evidence obtained under a search warrant can be excluded because the warrant was not technically valid or was based on false information. Even the Good Faith Exception cannot save a warrant based on false information.

So What is the Good Faith Exception to an Invalid Search Warrant?

Indiana Code 35-37-4-5 defines the good faith exception as:

Sec. 5. (a) In a prosecution for a crime or a proceeding to enforce an ordinance or a statute defining an infraction, the court may not grant a motion to exclude evidence on the grounds that the search or seizure by which the evidence was obtained was unlawful if the evidence was obtained by a law enforcement officer in good faith.
(b) For purposes of this section, evidence is obtained by a law enforcement officer in good faith if:
(1) it is obtained pursuant to:
(A) a search warrant that was properly issued upon a determination of probable cause by a neutral and detached magistrate, that is free from obvious defects other than nondeliberate errors made in its preparation, and that was reasonably believed by the law enforcement officer to be valid;

What this means is that if a police officer acted on a search warrant in “good faith” that has been authorized by a judge or a magistrate, and the search warrant is later invalidated for a technical reason, then the evidence may still be admissible. As with most things in the law, there are exceptions to even the Goof Faith Exception Rule and its application to a search warrant. As the Indiana Court of Appeals has recently held:

“the good faith exception does not apply where: (1) the warrant is based on false information knowingly or recklessly supplied; (2) the warrant is facially deficient; (3) the issuing magistrate is not detached and neutral; or (4) the affidavit or sworn testimony upon which the probable cause rests is so lacking in indicia of probable cause as to render an official belief in the existence of the warrant unreasonable.” Bryan Johnson v. State of Indiana, 45A05-1012-CR-816 (Ind. App 2011)

In examining how this issues can apply to a case, you need to look at the specific facts of a particular case and whether or not the search warrant would still be valid even with the Good Faith Exception, especially as it relates to probable cause. For instance, a situation where an officer runs the plates on a car and finds that the female owner of the car has a suspended license cannot subsequently determine that the driver is a male and still proceed to ask for identification based on the original reason for the stop. Holly v. State, 918 N.E.2d 323, 324 (Ind. 2009). Compare that to a situation where a computer brought into a repair shop contains a folder with an incriminating title, and the officer can reasonably believe that the folder contains incriminating evidence. Even though the search warrant was invalid, the Good Faith Exception applied in the Johnson case.

every case is fact specific, if you have been arrested based on evidence produced as the result of a search warrant, you should consult an attorney.

The Law Office of Jeffery M. Haupt is located in South Bend, Indiana and helps people handle family law issues such as divorce, parenting time, child support, paternity, child custody and criminal matters such as DUI/OWI, drug offenses, traffic offenses, etc. The information in this blog should only be used for educational purposes and not be construed as legal advice. Nothing in this blog creates an attorney-client relationship between me and any readers of this blog. No attorney-client relationship is created until you have a document from me saying so. DO NOT POST ABOUT CASE PARTICULARS IN THE COMMENT SECTION.

What NOT to do When You Are Arrested

Posted on August 15, 2011 by jeffhaupt

Being arrested in Indiana you have certain rights. First and foremost if you are actually being arrested you should be advised of your Miranda Rights. These rights are famously heard throughout TV programs and movies and are pretty common place in our society. Essentially, the Miranda Rights gives you the right to keep from incriminating yourself by reminding you of the right to remain silent and the right to have an attorney present during questioning.

The Right to Remain Silent

The 5th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution gives us the ability to remain silent so that we do not incriminate ourselves during the course of a trial or investigation. Once you are arrested you should be advised of this right. If you are brought in for questioning after your arrest it is important that you invoke this right and explicitly let the police officer investigating the crime know that you wish to remain silent or simply remain silent.

By talking to the police about the crime or the investigation, your statements can be used against you in a subsequent prosecution. Remember, it is the State that has to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt in order for you to be convicted. By offering up statements during the course of an investigation you could be essentially making the case for the State (or even implicating yourself in an unrelated crime).

The Right to Have Counsel

During the course of questioning by the police you have the right to have counsel present. Your attorney can advise you of what questions to answer and what not to answer, what the police are trying to get at and what sort of charges you could be facing. Having an attorney present can prevent you from implicating yourself. Regardless of what you see on most TV shows where the suspect, who has an attorney with him or her, goes on a tangent because he was being pushed to hard during an investigation, that simply isn’t reality. Most competent lawyers would make sure you understand what can happen to you based on the questions that you are about to answer.

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