Legal Question in Criminal Law in Indiana
Innocent man charged with murder
My fiance needs help. He is already incarcerated and now has been charged with a murder that took place before he was incarcerated. He does know who committed the murder and he and his children were threatened if he said anything. What can we do? We are afraid that he may still end up as an accomplice, when he wasn't and had no control over the matter. Please help us. The worse part of it is the detectives convinced me it would be of his interest if I would make a statement of what he told me. They said if he didn't do committ the crime, it would help him. They turned around and took the statement to the prosecutor's office and charged him.
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Innocent man charged with murder
If this case is pending in Elkhart County, then we may have already discussed this. If not, please call at317 686-0000. A discussion here would not be secure.
Re: Innocent man charged with murder
By now you realize that cooperating with the detectives was a mistake. You and your fiance should not have any further communications with the police or prosecution without an attorney present at all times. At this point, the Murder charges need to be defended--the water's already over the dam, so to speak. Your fiance, if he has credible evidence about the crime, may have no choice but to cooperate with the investigation. Otherwise, he may be convicting himself of something he didn't do. An attorney should be retained immediately to represent him. The attorney will obtain discovery (copies of all the evidence the State has) and evaluate the case. If any deals are made with the prosecutor to trade his cooperation in return for dismissal or a plea agreement, they will be negotiated by your attorney and put in writing. DO NOT TRUST anyone except your attorney. Also, tell your fiance not to talk to anyone in the jail about the case. Prison "snitches" can be a problem, and sometimes are even planted by the police to get admissions from defendants. TRUST NO ONE.
One further note: Police are trained to trick suspects into making damaging statements and false confessions (I have copies of their manuals--I know). You need a competent, experienced criminal defense attorney on your side to protect him. No matter what anyone else tells you, nobody (from the government) is there to help you, only to get what they want, which is a conviction.
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