{"id":1348,"date":"2019-09-11T16:02:48","date_gmt":"2019-09-11T16:02:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.delewislaw.com\/blog\/?p=1348"},"modified":"2019-09-11T16:02:48","modified_gmt":"2019-09-11T16:02:48","slug":"can-i-get-immunity-for-being-a-witness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.delewislaw.com\/blog\/can-i-get-immunity-for-being-a-witness\/","title":{"rendered":"Can I Get Immunity For Being a Witness?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

You\u2019ve probably seen your favorite vigilante in your\nfavorite movie get immunity for their crimes in trade for saving the city. Or\nperhaps a key protagonist that swaps valuable testimony for a pass on their\nparticular offense. But do these things actually happen in real life, to real\npeople? Continue reading to learn what immunity means for a witness also\ncharged with a crime in a criminal case. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Indiana
Indiana Immunity Attorney 317-636-7514<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Prosecution Wants to Make a Case<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

There are times when a prosecutor will offer a suspected\ncriminal immunity for their crimes if they help law enforcement build a case\nagainst another suspect, or group of suspects, by being a witness. Immunity is\nbasically a \u201chall pass\u201d or \u201cget out of jail free card\u201d for a person who is\ncharged with or suspected of a minor crime. In exchange for vital information\nand testimony that will help prosecute a more high-profile criminal, a\nprosecutor will not move forward with charging a suspect. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Factors That Influence Immunity<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Not every is offered immunity. Immunity is typically\nreserved for more high-profile cases and long-standing investigations. Common\ncases that might involve an offer of immunity include crime bosses, drug\ntraffickers, smugglers\/black-marketers, white collar fraud, sex trafficking,\nand similar serious crime enterprises. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, this does not mean that only high-profile cases are\neligible for such criminal leniency. There is a chance that a lower-spectrum\ncriminal cases might involve immunity. It depends on several factors, such as the\ncurrent on-going criminal investigations in town, the level of danger the upper\ncrime poses to the community, and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Limitations to Immunity<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Immunity is a great opportunity for a minor criminal, as it\nallows avoiding jail, hefty fines, and a permanent record. However, there are\nlimitations and rules that go along with this type of legal arrangement. After\nall, immunity is more of an inventive for prosecution, who uses it as a tool to\nget what they want.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once a person is granted immunity, they must testify in court against the person they have information on. If the person refuses to testify after being given immunity, they will be held in contempt of court. See our blog, \u201cCan I Go to Jail for Criminal Contempt?<\/a>\u201d to learn what you need to know about criminal contempt in Indiana.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Furthermore, being granted immunity does not mean that a\nperson is entirely cleared. Prosecution could later indict an immunized\nwitness, so long as prosecution and law enforcement can prove that the case is\nbased exclusively on evidence separate from the witness\u2019s immunized testimony. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In such cases, if an immunized witness wishes to claim immunity as a defense to being indicted, they have the burden of providing sufficient evidence that 1)<\/strong> prosecution awarded immunity, and 2)<\/strong> the testimony that earned them immunity is relevant to the charges they are being indicted on. After that, the burden of proof shits to the government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Need Help With Immunity in Indiana?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Call the Law Office of David E. Lewis at 317-636-7514<\/strong> to schedule a free initial consultation with aggressive Indiana criminal defense attorney<\/a> who will stop at nothing to protect your rights and preserve your freedoms. Whether you have already been granted immunity, or wish to make a deal with prosecution, he can help. With decades of hands-on experience, you can trust Attorney David E. Lewis to build you a strong and impactful defense against your Indiana criminal charges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Indianapolis
Schedule a Free Consultation Today!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You\u2019ve probably seen your favorite vigilante in your favorite movie get immunity for their crimes in trade for saving the city. Or perhaps a key protagonist that swaps valuable testimony for a pass on their particular offense. But do these … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1349,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,1],"tags":[825,754,822,824,823,64],"class_list":["post-1348","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-criminal-defense","category-criminal-law","tag-can-i-get-immunity-indiana","tag-immunity-lawyer-indianapolis","tag-immunity-witnesses-indiana","tag-indiana-immunity-info","tag-indiana-immunity-laws","tag-indianapolis-criminal-defense-lawyer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.delewislaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1348","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.delewislaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.delewislaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.delewislaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.delewislaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1348"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.delewislaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1348\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1350,"href":"https:\/\/www.delewislaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1348\/revisions\/1350"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.delewislaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1349"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.delewislaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1348"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.delewislaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1348"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.delewislaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1348"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}