Author Archives: Jay Butchko
Expungement In Indiana
According to a recent report, as many as 100 million Americans have criminal convictions on their records. These individuals face significantly more hurdles in life. Nearly every job application in the United States will ask prospective employees about their criminal record. Some people with criminal convictions are also prohibited from carrying a firearm, which… Read More »
Gas City Woman Appeals Murder Conviction To State Supreme Court
In late September 2022, the Supreme Court of Indiana will hear arguments from a woman convicted of murder in the death of her 10-year-old stepdaughter. Authorities found the girl, who had been strangled, in a tool shed behind the family’s home. During trial, the defense attorney argued the killing was not a murder but… Read More »
Drug Possession Crimes And The Three Ps
Every year, law enforcement officers nationwide arrest over 1.8 million people for drug violations. That figure is higher than the number of arrests for assaults, DUIs, or any other type of crime. The vast majority of drug arrests, over 80 percent of them, are for simple possession. Police officers make lots of drug possession… Read More »
Sex Crimes Defenses In Indiana
Indiana sex crimes are quite diverse, from relatively innocent indecent exposure cases to the most savage sexual battery cases. However, the public usually views sex offenders as homogenous. In other words, landlords, employers, and everyone else usually believes that sex offenders are all the same. In contrast, very few people look at overall criminal… Read More »
What You Should Know About Probation In Marion County
Currently, over three million Americans live under some form of criminal court supervision, such as probation. About 20 percent of these individuals violate their court supervision to the extent that the court revokes it. A subsequent criminal charge and repeated drug use are the most common violations. Failure to report isn’t far behind. Other… Read More »
Getting Out Of Jail, And Staying Out Of Jail, In Marion County
Especially with the rise of COVID and other serious infectious diseases, the high percentage of unsentenced inmates in American jails has gotten a lot of attention recently. And, Indiana has one of the highest percentages of unsentenced county jail inmates in the country. This fact has affected pretrial release in Marion County at multiple… Read More »
If I Provided A Chemical Sample, Am I Automatically Guilty?
In a word, no. While the conviction rate in breath and blood test cases is much higher than the conviction rate in non-test cases, convictions in test cases are far from automatic. That’s mostly because the state must still prove the breath or blood test result was reliable. And, prosecutors must establish this point… Read More »