Kentucky Criminal Defense Legal Questions

The purpose of an autopsy is to determine the cause of death. In the case of murder, the cause of death is known. However, it is appropriate to present the autopsy findings to the grand jury, and the county attorney or Commonwealth Attorney can petition a court to order an autopsy pursuant to KRS § 72.445. The court will grant such a petition if there are reasonable grounds to believe that a person died as a result of a criminal act, so that is generally regarded as the appropriate office to contact to do so. ... Read More

Sorry, without a lot more detail no one is likely to even know whether they can be of assistance. You might start with the five w's (who, what, when, where, and why). Kentucky is a large state, and it's criminal justice system has a huge number of jurisdictional and procedural elements. Without answers to those "w's" no one can help.... Read More

Under Kentucky law, a person must be at least 16 years old to consent to a sexual act. However, this does not mean that anyone aged 16 or older can consent to sexual activity with any other person. Because anyone under the age of 18 is still a minor, restrictions apply. Under KRS 510.020(3), 16 and 17 year olds cannot engage in sexual acts with anyone who is more than 10 years older than they are, meaning the oldest their sexual partner can be is 26 or 27, respectively. If you fall within that 10 year window, no crime was committed. ... Read More

Being the victim of an assault means that the criminal defendant may have to make restitution pursuant to KRS § 533.030, Conditions of probation and conditional discharge -- Restitution to victim.  While it is possible to bring a lawsuit where there is little economic damage, that would require hiring counsel on an hourly basis and is an expensive option.  If money is not a constraint and you are willing to pay an attorney to sue the individual and the company, any judgment would be reduced by restitution from the criminal defendant.  The cost of car detailing is a small fraction of the cost to hire an attorney, and would be included in the restitution order on the defendant in a criminal case, so that is the option chosen by most people. ... Read More

Hello and thank you for using LawQA for your legal questions. I do not think the insurance company will know how much you drive her vehicle unless one of you provides that information to them. Keep in mind that in some counties of Kentucky the county attorneys are prosecuting non-owners of vehicles for failure to maintain insurance, even though the Supreme Court of Kentucky has opined that such charges are unconstitutional. If she keeps the vehicle insured then you will likely not have this problem but if you are ever charged with non-owner operator failure to maintain insurance.... Read More

Your first appearance will be your arraignment where they will read the charge against you in the record. You will enter a plea of Not Guilty. Your next hearing date will be your Pre-Trial Hearing. In between those periods a plea deal is sought. You will need to have a drug and alcohol screening done. If treatment is required, you will need to take them. Because its been 10 years between offenses, they MAY not count that against you in determining on their plea offer to you. Get an attorney who specializes in DUIs.... Read More

A second DUI can mean 10 days of jail or more in Colorado. If you have more than 1 prior, then more jail. In response to your DUI Post: I am a criminal defense attorney with more than 17 years experience on DUI cases. If you would like to discuss your case, please contact me. Some important information- DMV Issues - If you have been served with a Notice of Revocation, then you have 7 days to request a hearing. Please do that immediately by going to your local DMV office, tell them you got a DUI and you want to request a hearing. They will give you a form. DO NOT REQUEST THE OFFICER. We can do that later if we choose to, but most often it means you will lose. The receipt DMV gives you allows you to drive until the day of the hearing. Request a copy of the Expressed Consent Packet. Evidence Issues - It would be valuable to immediately request all police reports, including all audio and video recordings from dash recorders, lapel recorders and police station recorders from the police agency that arrested you and the prosecution. Include in your written request a statement that you believe the audio and video recordings are material and exculpatory. Make sure you get a copy of your request with the date, signature and name of the person that you give it to. Representation begins when client pays attorney an agreed upon retainer and returns a signed fee agreement.... Read More

The Sixth Amendment guarantees the right to effective assistance of counsel. More than 50 years ago, the United States Supreme Court ruled that if a state wants to take away a person's liberty, it must provide an attorney to those who are indigent and lack sufficient funds to retain counsel. Usually, the same appointed counsel continuously represents the defendant from the initial court appearance through trial, sentencing, or dismissal. Minimum national standards require this for the protection of the defendant's rights. I doubt your boyfriend will be appointed different counsel after being bound over to the Circuit Court. While indigent defendants are entitled to have counsel appointed for them, they are not entitled to the appointment of a particular attorney, Requests for a different attorney may be granted in the court's discretion, if adequate reasons are provided. In Kentucky, where you are from, in order to have a different lawyer appointed, your boyfriend will have to show good cause. Good cause has been described as: (1) a complete breakdown of communications between counsel and defendant (2) a conflict of interest due to the lawyer's current or prior representation of another client ; or (3) that the defendant's legitimate interests are being prejudiced by his current lawyer. If your boyfriend decides to ask the Court to discharge his appointed counsel and appoint new counsel, his request should contain the specific reasons for his dissatisfaction. For example, all counsel, including appointed counsel, have an obligation to spend sufficient time interviewing and counseling clients; seeking pretrial release of jailed clients; conducting necessary investigation; obtaining and reviewing discovery from the prosecution and filing appropriate motions; undertaking adequate legal research; and preparing for and conducting pre-trial hearings, trials and where applicable, sentencing hearings. If your boyfriend timely makes a request for different counsel, with detailed information as the reasons for his dissatisfaction, the Court has a responsibility to consider his complaints. It may ask his lawyer to respond. It may hold a hearing. Ultimately, the decision is up to the judge. Jeralyn Merritt, Ask a Lawyer Panelist Since 1998  ... Read More

Yes, the police may use convicted felons as informants to catch other persons engaged in felonious criminal activity. It happens all the time. There are generally three kinds of informants: Those who provide information and help set up busts for money; those who do so in exchange for leniency for their own misdeeds; and citizen informants, such as those who report a crime on a tip line, who presumably have no financial or liberty interest in their report. Some courts, when setting bond for someone charged with a crime, will include a condition that the person not engage in proactive work for law enforcement without obtaining prior permission of the court. But even in these jurisdictions, after a case is over and bond has been discharged, the person is free to make his own decisions. Also keep in mind that police are allowed to lie when acting in an undercover capacity. Many people mistakenly think if they ask the person with whom they are about to engage in a criminal act if he or she is a police officer, and the person denies it, it must be true because cops are not allowed to lie. They can, and they do lie. That's the whole point of undercover operations -- pretending to be someone else.... Read More

Yes, co-defendants in drug cases may receive different sentences. When two people are charged and convicted of the same crime, the maximum penalty they are facing may be the same, but the actual sentence each receives can vary greatly. Sentences are based on a variety of factors, pertaining both to the crime of conviction and the individual history and characteristics of the offender, as well as the sentencing range specified by the law for a particular offense. In drug cases, it is not unusual for those with a lesser role in the illegal activity to receive a lighter sentence than those who directed the activity or had an organizer role. Similarly, those with prior convictions may receive a harsher sentence than a first offender. Sentences also may vary depending on whether the person charged proceeds to trial or accepts a pre-trial plea bargain. There is no right to a plea bargain - they are offered at the discretion of the prosecutor. There just aren't enough resources and personnel to handle a huge number of trials. Many cases are resolved by plea bargain. Plea bargains typically involve a defendant agreeing to plead guilty, in exchange for the prosecutor's offer of either a plea to a reduced charge (that carries a lighter sentence) or offer to recommend a lighter sentence to the Judge. If a defendant agrees to cooperate with authorities, by providing incriminating information about others involved in crime, a greater sentence concession is often offered. The federal and state systems operate quite differently, but both allow plea bargaining and both allow prosecutors to offer "deals" to those that agree to plead guilty and help then nab other people. Diversion is more common in state courts for drug offenses than it is in federal courts. In determining a sentence, the court will consider many factors, such as: Was this your first offense? Were you a decision maker or just the wife of drug trafficker who helped him out on occasion? Do you have children at home who need you, and a job? Were you aware of the quantity of drugs being sold? Were you an equal partner or did you just manage your husband's books or make an occasional drop-off, having little else to do with his business? Besides a plea deal or cooperating, another way to get a reduced sentence in my view, is to take major steps to turn your life around immediately, well before sentencing. You might start attending drug and alcohol classes, mental health classes, anger management classes. You might enroll in a school that teaches something you always wanted to learn how to do, which could serve as an entree into a new job market. As to diversion, that too is a possibility in many places. Diversion is not uncommon in the state system, but it is in the federal system. My best advice to you is to call an experienced criminal lawyer in your area. He or she will be familiar with the types of bargains offered in your area, and how the likely the judges are to go along with the recommendations. You can also explain the roles of you and your husband in the activity which will enable your attorney to make a more accurate assessment of what is likely to happen. I don't recommend that you and your husband share a lawyer due to the potential for conflict of interest. You are entitled to the undivided loyalty of your attorney. Good luck, and start calling around to get the names of really good defense counsel. Many offer free initial consultations. Talk to a few, and go with the one you feel most comfortable with, and have good communication with, and who strikes you as someone who really knows their stuff and will be there for you when you call or need to see him.... Read More

A plea agreement is an agreement between you and the prosecutor to resolve criminal charges against you. When the agreement provides for a recommended sentence, such as probation, the judge is free to accept or reject the recommendation. This occurs at the sentencing hearing. If the judge decides to reject the recommendation for probation, you may or may not be allowed to withdraw your guilty plea. Usually, this depends on whether the agreement states the probation recommendation is binding on the court. Since a pre-sentence report has been ordered by the court in your case, the judge will want to review it before deciding whether to accept the prosecutor's recommendation of probation. If your pre-sentence report has already been completed, it's possible that neither the judge, the prosecutor, nor the probation officer will know about your new charge when your case comes up for sentencing. While it may be tempting not to tell them, that is very risky and not advisable. Probation includes conditions, one of which is that you not commit any new crimes during the probationary period. If you are subsequently convicted of the new charge, even though it occurred prior to sentencing, the prosecutor or probation department may try to revoke your probation when they learn of it. Without knowing the details of the charge for which you are being sentenced and the new charge, it's not possible to predict the effect that knowledge of the new charge will have on the prosecutor, the probation department or the judge. For example, if you advise the probation department of the new charge before sentencing, they may file an addendum to the pre-sentence report to include this information. Probation might or might not change their recommendation that the Judge grant probation. The prosecutor, when he or she learns of the new charge from the addendum to the probation report, might or might not seek permission to withdraw from the plea agreement. The Judge, upon learning of the new charge, might or might not decide probation is no longer appropriate. If the judge decides probation is not warranted due to the new charge, and the plea agreement is not binding on the judge, you would be stuck with whatever sentence the judge imposes, so long as it does not exceed the maximum for the crime for which you were convicted. You really need to have the professional advice of an experienced criminal defense lawyer for this predicament. He or she can review the language in your plea agreement to determine if the probation recommendation is binding on the court. An experienced attorney in your jurisdiction also can provide you with an informed opinion as to the likely effect knowledge of the new charge will have on the prosecutor, the probation department and the court. An attorney may be able to postpone your sentencing and get the new charge dismissed before the new sentencing date, so it has no effect on your current agreement. Alternatively, he or she may be able to convince the judge to accept the agreement despite the new charge, or negotiate a new agreement with the prosecutor that takes the new charge into account.... Read More

The time limit for filing charges is governed by a law called the statute of limitations which differs from jurisdiction to jurisdiction and depending on the crime. For a drug offense, it is usually between three and five years. It is fairly routine for police officers to tell a suspect they will withhold filing charges if the suspect agrees to set other people up. While the police can choose to request or refrain from requesting a prosecutor to file charges, once charges are filed, only the prosecutor has the authority to strike a plea bargain. The police will be consulted, but the final determination does not belong to them. In most states, persons caught with a small amount of drugs intended for personal use often are offered dispositions that do not result in a permanent record or jail time, provided he or she completes a drug treatment program, does not test positive for further drug use and stays out of trouble for a period of time. If your state offers this kind of program, it should not be contingent on whether your son sets people up. If your son cannot afford a lawyer, once charges are filed and he is arrested he will be eligible for the services of a public defender or a court-appointed lawyer at no charge to him. In the meantime, you can call or write the police department on his behalf and request they notify you if an arrest warrant issues, so that your son can turn himself in. Let them know he has every intention of doing so. If they agree, your son avoids the indignity of an arrest. Should they refuse, you can make the Judge aware of your offer at the time of his bond hearing and it could result in a lower bond. The best advice for anyone under investigation for a crime is to exercise their right to remain silent and only speak to the authorities if their legal counsel is present and advises them to do so. Since the police are under no immediate time limitation to file charges, another good idea would be for your son to seek out and enroll in a drug treatment program now. Many are free to those who cannot afford to pay. This may have a positive effect upon the District Attorney when he or she considers what kind of offer to make to your son after charges are filed, and on the Judge in deciding what sentence to impose should he take a plea bargain down the road. ... Read More

Absolutely. Anything you say to the police can and will be used against you. You constitutional right not to discuss the matter with them as it could incriminate you. Absent legal counsel, you should exercise that right. The jails are filled with people who thought if only they could tell their side of the story, the police would see it their way and not take action against them. Instead, they end up charged with a crime and having their statements introduced into evidence against them at trial. Your best bet is to contact a criminal defense attorney in your area and explain the situation. The attorney can contact the police on your behalf and then make an informed decision as to whether it is in your best interest to speak with them. If it is, he or she should accompany you to the interview and be present during it. ... Read More