Need info about the obitual criminal laws in IN-how far back can they go?Any info on the law at all?

Question

Are the laws in all States the same? Say someone has a 18 year old burglary charge, 5 year old robbery, and now is faced with posession of a controlled substance and trafficing with an inmate. They offered a plea of 2 years, do 1. He didn't accept the plea and now they say they are going to file an obbitual on him which carries 10 years in prison. The public Defender and him do not see eye to eye and he seems to not have have an open mind to his best interest. Should he ask for a new Public Defender? That will buy a little more time. The circumstances in which he caught the trafficing charge are complicated. The WOMEN that was in the medical cell next to him asked him if he was sick, which he was. Coming off of Methadone and Heroin which has many side affects such as withdrawel, vomiting, insomnia, (hadn't slept in 5 or 6 days) and hallucinating. She says "I got what you need". He had no idea this women was going to throw a methadone pill under his cell door. She did, and he was caught

the pill was never taken. All he did was pick up the piece of paper, never even seen the pill before the guards came in and searched

Answer 1

It's habitual, genius. And the genius criminal should have taken the deal. Prior felonies can be used to enhance, regardless of how old. If one time didn't make him stop, crime is indeed a habit with him. Lock him up and throw away the key. In Texas, a 3rd felony is 25 to life.

Answer 2

Your question is somewhat convoluted and unclear. I will try to respond to what I understand your question to be. Habitual criminals or recidivists can go back as far as the D.A. wants to. In California, a three strikes offender can be nailed for things he did three decades ago. That is one of the reasons I felt it was a bad law. In your case, being nailed for possession of a controlled substance, even if unintentional or "innocent", could still be tacked on as a habitual criminal or recidivist. You are entitled to ask for another P.D. if you are unhappy with the current one. What you have to understand is that P.D.s are overworked and don't have the time to give each case the attention that it deserves. Therefore, the attorney is looking at the case with the attitude of "how can I most readily process this case"? Plea bargains are the fastest way to process the case so that is what they look for. He is seeing the case is a very practical perspective. Drug cases are very strict. It doesn't matter how he got the pill, the point is that he was caught with it and the law will hold him responsible. He can implicate the lady in the cell next to him but that won't change the fact that he had the pill. So, the P.D. is seeing this as a losing case. Therefore, he arranges a plea bargain of 2 yrs. reducible to 1 yr. It is a good deal from that perspective. If the D.A. goes for habitual criminal behavior seeking ten years, and you lose, then the time will be much worse than the plea bargain. If you can somehow convince the judge and jury that the facts are what you say they are, she rolled the pill under his cell door, he didn't know what it was, and he didn't touch it before being caught, then you might win a not guilty verdict. That is a big risk. Go ahead and ask for a new attorney and see what the new one says. Ask the judge if he would appoint a defense attorney from the community and not from the Public Defender's Office. Appointed attorneys sometimes give a case more attention than the P.D. can offer.
Best wishes.

Answer 3

Criminal Records Search Database : http://InfoSearchDetective.com/Help

Answer 4

You can name the District Attorney's Office wherein the case used to be opened and examine to look if it is nonetheless open or now not. A lot of instances, the DA will simply drop the case due to the fact of inadequate proof.