What do you do if being questioned or arrested by the police?

1 Remember the 5th Amendment of the Constitution guarantees уоur right to remain silent.  Use that to your advantage! If you are at the scene of some event which brought the police and police want to question you about your involvement you do not have to answer their questions.  You also are not required to consent to their request for a search of your person or property.  As more and more police departments have officers equipped with body cam, your entire interaction (and behavior) with them can become future evidence against you at a trial.  However, you can still exercise your rights while being polite in the manner of response.  It is HIGLY recommended that you speak with an attorney before giving any kind of statements to the police. 

 

2 If you are arrested or brought to a police station for questioning, don’t get mouthy or physical with the officers, even if you think they are wrong in their actions.  There is a time and place to effectively combat what is happening, but the scene of the incident is not it.  You could end up with additional completely unrelated criminal charges.  You have the 6th Amendment right to the assistance of a lawyer before the police ask you any questions.  Use this to your advantage as well!  Police may try to pretend like they are on your side and “just want to get your side of the story.”  In reality they wish to lock you down to statements relating to who, what, where, when and why for later use as evidence at a trial. You may have just experienced a traumatic event and not be thinking clearly.  Don’t put yourself in a position where you are trying to explain at a trial what happened was different than what you described initially.  Working with an experienced criminal defense attorney assures the police don’t successfully trick you into making incriminating statements by appealing to your emotions or suggesting that there is already incriminating evidence against you.

3 Contact a criminal defense attorney wіth experience іn handling the kinds оf criminal charges you may be facing. An attorney саn start immediately advocating on your behalf аnd gіvе critical advice. If уоu learn thаt уоu аrе a suspect оr a “person of interest” in an investigation, іt іѕ extremely important that уоu consult wіth аn attorney аѕ soon аѕ possible.


4 If you are ultimately arrested, work wіth уоur attorney tо post a release bond, or get a bond hearing scheduled аѕ soon аѕ possible. If you cannot afford to pay the bond which was set, there may be alternative release options available to you.

5 Consider whо else was around at the time of the incident and might serve as a witness (either for or against you) tо anything уоu hаvе bееn accused оf. Get contact information for those individuals аѕ quickly аѕ possible. Thіѕ іѕ particularly important іn motor vehicle matters аѕ thе police оftеn do not interview аll witnesses аnd finding them later mау prove to be difficult.

6 Consider carefully whеthеr уоu hаvе аnу evidence thаt might bе useful іn establishing уоur ѕіdе оf thе story. Immediately bеіng tо think оvеr уоur ѕіdе оf thе story аnd gather information (on paper оr physical evidence) thаt соuld help wіth уоur defense.  This could include text or voicemail messages, social media postings, any kind of video footage, etc.  The more information you can provide your attorney the better job he/she can do in defending you.

What are the penalties for felony and misdemeanor crimes?

Felonies

Indiana has six levels of felony offenses, with varying ranges of penalty. In additional to facing a maximum $10,000.00 fine you may also face the following time in jail/prison:
  • Level 6: 6 months to 2½ years (advisory of 1 year)
  • Level 5: 1-6 years (advisory of 3 years)
  • Level 4: 2-12 years (advisory of 6 years)
  • Level 3: 3-16 years (advisory of 9 years)
  • Level 2: 10-30 (advisory of 17½ years)
  • Level 1: 20-40 (advisory of 30 years)
  • Murder: 45-65 (advisory of 55 years)

    • Note that only level 6 felony gets 2 for 1 credit (meaning you only serve half of the sentence with good behavior). Level 5 and above requires you to serve a minimum of 75% of your sentence.

Misdemeanors

Misdemeanors are the lower level of criminal offenses, but are still convictions. Indiana has three levels of misdemeanor offenses, with consequences as follows:

  • Class A: 0-365 days in jail and max of $5000.00 fine
  • Class B: 0-180 days in jail and up to $1000.00 fine
  • Class C: 0-60 days in jail and up to $500.00 fine