Hello all!
I had a run in with the law in 2013 in a small county of Indiana. I believed fervently, that the decisions I made that day would be understandable based on the scenario I with all honesty provided to the authorities. However, I quickly found out that in particular small towns, minorities, regardless of the facts, are not always given the same legal courtesies as others. Nonetheless, I took responsibility for my actions in the matter and successfully went through the process. I have to be honest and say, I cried many nights asking myself "how did I get here?" I considered myself a person of great character and also a person who believed in the law, however, I simply didn't feel confident that the outcomes would be in my favor. After going through all that was requested of me through the courts, I looked forward to filing a petition of expungement. I, being from out of state, called a total of 4 attorney's , asked a few questions about the process/law on expungements, and was looking to see if they would somewhat provide just a little peace of mind through their explanations or spills. To say the least, I didn't feel comfortable with either of them. One attorney seemed to be more interested in money before conversing, while another seemed not as prepared, sharing that he needed to research the new expungement laws of Indiana, because as he said, "they are ever changing," which was definitely not what I needed to hear. My final call was to Attorney A. Avnet. Within the first 10 seconds, I found him to be extremely knowledgeable about my specific issue, kind, and available. He explained to me in terms that I could understand, what the expungement process would involve, and gave the appropriate timeframe in which to file and how long it generally takes for courts to respond. He verified my information, explained in detail what he could do exactly, and then gave his fee, which seemed very straight forward, and frankly was the peace I needed. When it was time to apply for a "mandatory expungement," we were met with resistance from the prosecutor, in fact, the prosecutor, flat out denied the petition, which shocked us all. Attorney Avnet, jumped on this issue immediately! He filed another petition, citing previous cases supporting our case, and ending his petition by asking the courts " how can we as attorneys deny laws that are mandatory?" He expressed that though we all may have personal feelings on a situation, the laws of the State of Indiana should apply to everyone, in all circumstances, be it a great outcome or not. The prosecutor rescinded his objection, and the court within days, granted the petition. Frankly, I cannot thank Mr. Avnet enough for his diligence with me. I strongly believe that without his help, the results would not have been the same, or at least, there would have been many delays. I highly recommend Mr. Avnet, because he's fair, he's competent, and most of all, he's communicable! If you've ever been in a legal battle, nothing, and I do mean nothing, is worse, then having an attorney who you can't communicate with. Thank you Attorney Avnet, for restoring my faith in our judicial system, and giving me another chance to live a life without a criminal record!
Read less