Indiana recognizes a parental discipline privilege, which gives a parent legal authority to apply reasonable force upon their child as the parent reasonably believes necessary for proper control, training, or education. While a controversial subject in the legal and psychological areas nationally, Indiana parents have what is known in criminal law as the “parental discipline privilege”. In blunt terms, parents have the legal right to spank their children. However, this is not an absolute right, and Indiana trial and appellate courts have tackled the issue of parental discipline in several cases; they ... Read More
10
Oct2018
22
Feb2018
And What Happens If You Miss the Deadline?
In most criminal and civil cases, there are many court orders issued. These are “interlocutory” (temporary) orders to move a case to a final order and are not normally appealed. There are provisions to appeal certain “interlocutory” orders1 as a matter of right (during trial court proceeding) and by the discretion of the trial court (an order trial court must certify the interlocutory order for appeal and the Court of Appeals has to then accept the ... Read More
12
Dec2017
We all make New Year’s wishes, right?
For thousands of Hoosiers, their wish is to have a clean criminal record without an old misdemeanor or felony conviction holding them back from job opportunities or having a firearm and license to carry. In the last several years, the Legislature has added several laws to allow you new ways to “remove” old convictions. This blog explores these and the legal remedies now available to you.
The oldest legal tool for addressing a past criminal conviction is post-conviction relief. This ... Read More
03
Apr2017
Indiana has adopted standing one’s ground (generally referred to as a part of the Castle Doctrine as it relates to home and curtilage) as a part of the affirmative defense of self-defense to protect a person’s home and curtilage. This allows the use of deadly force without retreating.  Under this legal right, the situation often arises where someone fires a “warning shot” to direct (scare off) someone from their property. This blog post addresses this legally thorny issue, noting the most prudent course is ... Read More
31
Mar2017
A key tool prosecutors and defense attorneys use to resolve criminal cases is a plea agreement. This is a contract of sorts between the two “parties”, the prosecutor and the defendant, but is not binding upon the court unless it is accepted. Plea agreements ensure the orderly and timely administration of justice by allowing most cases to resolve without a bench (judge) or jury trial (where allowed).
For most defendants, the biggest reason for a plea is to obtain charges being dropped, a ... Read More
23
Nov2016
Permanency and stability are keys for children; Courts are mindful of this in considering all requests for custody modification in a child’s best interests. For this reasons, Indiana trial courts and attorneys are reluctant to entertain “emergency” motions for child custody modification in all but extraordinary situations because this is incongruous with taking the time to allow the attorneys to develop the evidence and present the case.
However, there are four somewhat common situations where a trial court may ... Read More