Steven Knecht won the dismissal of burglary charges for his client from the Indiana Court of Appeals for a speedy trial violation.

In Arion v. Indiana, the defendant while representing himself moved for a speedy trial after an arrest warrant for a burglary charge was served on him in September, 2013 in prison where he was serving a sentence for unrelated crimes. The defendant was not transported to court for an Initial Hearing after the warrant was served. In December, the defendant filed a motion to dismiss because he had not been brought to trial in 70 days which was denied. In January 2014, the defendant, still without counsel because of the continuing failure to transport him from prison to court, filed a motion to reconsider the motion to dismiss and attached a copy of the warrant that had been served on him.

The Court of Appeals found a speedy trial violation under Criminal Rule 4 and ordered the charges dismissed. The trial court should have known the defendant was being held on the burglary charge when he moved for a speedy trial and was unconvinced by the State’s argument that the trial court did not see the warrant attached to the motion to reconsider. Finally, the delay transporting the defendant to court for an Initial Hearing could not be used to penalize the defendant when there was no explanation why the State or the trial court did not complete any of the necessary paperwork to transport the defendant. Knecht’s winning argument before the Court of Appeals held on May 23, 2016 can be seen at www.IN.gov/judiciary. With over 33 years of experience, Steven Knecht is familiar with the possible defenses to criminal charges. If you find yourself having been arrested or falsely accused of a crime, you should immediately hire an experienced criminal defense lawyer such as Steven Knecht to help you fight the State.