Writing a story about a guy who gets framed for the murder of three people, making it look like a drug deal gone bad. Takes place in Indianapolis in 2005. My idea was to have him spending maybe 10-15 years in prison, but not sure if that'd even be a possibility. First-time offender. Additionally, what could probation look like? If, say, 10 years later, he got an aggravated assault, could that have him facing life? Really want to make this work, and prefer not to lower the body count, but not sure if it's possible.
Unlikely. https://www.findlaw.com/state/indiana-law/indiana-murder-laws.html The minimum sentence is 45 years. That's per count. If three people were killed, that's three counts. If he was convicted on all three counts, that's three separate sentences. The judge could impose the sentences to run concurrently (essentially making it a 45-year sentence) or consecutively (135 years). I can't speak to how parole laws work in Indiana, but I very much doubt that someone imprisoned for three murders, even if the sentences run concurrently, would be allowed to get out on parole after only 10 or 15 years.
A triple homicide? Death in a capital murder state if you plead not guilty. Life without parole if you plead guilty and made a very charming confession to save the taxpayers money. DA's are elected officials who love headlines. And anything to prove that the system works. A first time offender might fly for drug possession. Three bodies gets you national acclaim.
Hmm. I wonder if just one murder would suffice. So, basically, the situation is that my main character and his partner stop a big bank robbery, maybe one involving strapping bombs to people and holding them hostage. There's three robbers, and now I'm thinking maybe one of them is talking about making a deal with the DA. Someone kills the robber, and frames my main character for the murder. I've thought of also framing him for setting up the bank robbery, but I feel like I'd run into the same problem where the charges would realistically mean way too many years in prison. I wonder how much time one murder for a first-time offender would get in IA during that time (2005 or so)? Is that 45-year minimum for first-degree murder? Any chance at all someone could get way less than that? Just trying to get my main character framed for something heinous that would have had disliked by the public, but gets him out in 10-15 years on parole.
IA is Iowa. Indianapolis in is Indiana -- IN. 45 years is the minimum sentence. The maximum is life without parole, IF the death sentence is not imposed. As I wrote above, that's per count, so the minimum sentence for one murder is 45 years. Lets get back to basics: If three robbers have bombs strapped to people in a bank and someone manages to kill one (or all) of the robbers -- I think it is EXTREMELY unlikely that this would be construed as murder. I think you need to look up the difference between "homicide" and "murder." Homicide is the taking of a human life. Not all homicides are murders.
Oh, I meant after the fact. Essentially, two heroes stop the robbery, but it was actually one of the heroes that set it up. When the other hero finds out, he threatens to turn his partner in. In response, I want the partner to set him up for a crime to get him locked away/silenced. I wanted the crime to be so heinous that even years later, people still remember him and think he's murderous POS, and I was rethinking that it'd make sense for the victim to be maybe one of the robbers who was going to talk to get a plea deal. Would kill two birds with one stone. Perhaps the partner just tricks the main character into killing the guy, who is out on bail, telling him they're raiding a drug den or something. But really, he has it set up so that it looks planned, and the main character gets caught. Perhaps people think he's a hitman or something.
I can't see anyone getting ten to fifteen for murder. What if there was a mitigating circumstance and the crime was a lesser one? For exsmple, the shooter was drunk, he dropped his gun, it misfired, and wounded someone. The other people fled. The victim is still alive and reported he was assaulted by a drunk man who dropped a gun.
I know a kid who got 70 years for his first time offence. I used to work with him. He was a helper of mine. I guess I failed to set him on the straight and narrow. It's not like I was his family, but I still feel like I let him down somehow. I mean, he had good qualities. That's a different story though. I check in on this kid from time to time to make sure he's still alive. Here's how he packed on the years. No, he didn't kill anyone. It was "just" a robbery. Simul. Poss Of Drg/Firearm -- 120 mo. Aggravated Robbery -- 264 mo. Poss W Purp DelContSubSched l,ll Stimulent=>80DU<160DU<=200g -- 240 mo. Felony With Firearm -- 60 mo. Theft of Property -- 120 mo. Poss Of Defaced Firearm -- 24 mo. The charges can pile up. You can boost that sentence easily. Throw some drugs into the mix and scratch off the serial number on the pistol. Your MC's life as he knows it will be over.
I suggest you google "Indiana sentencing guidelines" or "benchmarks" and tailor your crime to fit the period of incarceration you need. I found some possible answers but they were all from law firms advertising for clients. Fine for research but I don't want to endorse anybody to this forum. Per Findlaw.com (which I think is a neutral site) "Voluntary manslaughter" is: That has a 15-20 sentence guideline in Indiana and might work.
Someone from Reddit gave me a good idea. My character most likely will be framed for killing someone in an attempted theft of what they thought was an abandoned warehouse. That would most likely net him manslaughter, not murder
Jesus, that's crazy that they just stacked all the charges like that. Damn, obviously dude should've gotten some serious time, but I dunno about 70- years. Assuming the kid was pretty young at the time. Yeah, after consulting a few other places as well, murder is off the table. Minimum 45-year sentence in Indiana, but most likely life without parole. However, if I have him break into a warehouse to steal something in the middle of the night, there's a reasonable presumption that it'd be empty, so a first-time offender would most likely cop a manslaughter charge, rather than murder. Given what I'm going for, I think this works best.
It would still depend on the circumstances, in my opinion. If a janitor startles him and he smacks him across the head with one of the chrome wheels he's stealing, manslaughter might work. But if he is confronted by a security guard and shoots him, that still might be felony murder or 2nd degree murder. I'd search the Illinois court history and see what you find. The appellate decisions often have a lot of these background details.
Oh, I actually meant Indiana -- I always screw-up the abbreviation of IA. It's actually hard to explain what exactly I'm going without going into a bit of the backstory. But, basically, it's framed as if my MC is just some thief or something trying to steal from a warehouse late at night. When a superhero and his sidekick arrive on scene to stop him, he ends up shooting and killing the sidekick in a struggle. He's a first-time offender, and I was informed that, in IA, if it was reasonably expected that the warehouse would be empty, he may only be charged with manslaughter due to his age and clean record, or be charged with murder and a judge would throw that out in favor of a lesser charge, or come to a plea deal for a lesser charge.
That could definitely be plausible in your story if it's executed (written) well. But I'd be wondering why he'd think it would be empty, a lot of places have surveillance and/or security and if it was supposed to be empty, why did the superhero show up? And if they did show up, why would the superhero let his sidekick engage in a struggle for a gun? I've always felt that if there is a struggle for a gun, the one that introduced it should be liable for murder if it goes off unless they pulled it out in self defense. But I don't know if self defense can be claimed during a burglary. These are just my thoughts but can be explained by the additional details of your story.
So, it's a bit confusing, apologies for my bad explanations. Essentially, Doug, my main character, is a sidekick that goes by the name The Wombat. For various reasons, Doug's partner brought him on a mission, telling Doug they were going to investigate a suspected arms dealing facility or something. This was a complete lie. In actuality, when Doug and his partner break in, it's actually a setup by his partner, wherein his partner sets things up so that another guy he invited is mistaken by Doug for one of the arms dealers. He sets it up in a way in which Doug ends up having to kill the guy. His partner promptly knocks him out, quickly switches their outfits, and makes it appear like Doug has just killed The Wombat, with his partner's official story being that him and The Wombat were investigating a break-in at the warehouse, and when confronted, Doug got spooked and shot The Wombat. Still trying to work out the exact details of what the circumstances were that he asked the other guy (the guy that was killed) to meet him at the warehouse, how he tricked Doug into actually killing the guy, and how the partner made his story line up, but that's the gist of it. Doug is actually The Wombat, but his partner tricked him into killing a guy, switched their outfits, and framed Doug as the thug who killed The Wombat.
Probably not. In every state in the U.S., when any felony crime results in a death, any and all participants in the crime may be (and usually are) charged with murder. Look up the Indiana statutes and read the definition of what constitutes manslaughter. Never mind -- I'll save you some time: Involuntary Manslaughter: https://www.findlaw.com/state/indiana-law/indiana-involuntary-manslaughter-law.html https://law.justia.com/codes/indiana/2017/title-35/article-42/chapter-1/section-35-42-1-4/ Voluntary Manslaughter: https://www.findlaw.com/state/indiana-law/indiana-voluntary-manslaughter-law.html https://law.justia.com/codes/indiana/2017/title-35/article-42/chapter-1/section-35-42-1-3/ This may also help: https://www.findlaw.com/state/indiana-law/indiana-murder-laws.html The felony murder rule: https://www.justia.com/criminal/offenses/homicide/felony-murder/
In the United States, he'd be cooking on a chair, not getting probation. You kill three people, you don't get out of jail. If you want him to have 10-15 years in prison followed by probation, then you need to have him convince the jury that his involvement in the crime was minimal. For example, he drove the getaway car or provided the weapon, but someone else ultimately pulled the trigger.
He'd still be charged with all major crimes. All co-conspirators are held liable for all crimes regardless of their level of involvement. I forget how the law is worded, but I've heard it referred to as the "getaway driver law" before.
The part that I'm unsure of is what constitutes an inherently dangerous crime? Some lawyers on the legal advice sub on Reddit said that if it was reasonable to expect that the warehouse would be empty, it probably wouldn't be murder. I also wonder if burglary would rise to this level.
Did you say it was an abandoned warehouse or an inactive warehouse after hours? There's a big difference. I don't know if it's reasonable to think that a warehouse with valuable goods would be completely empty (i.e. no security patrolling the premises, etc.). But that's for the courts to decide.
