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The Plea That Deports You: Why a Louisiana Criminal Case Is an Immigration Case Too
A man walks into our office holding a piece of paper from eight years ago. It is a minute entry from a Louisiana district court. He pled guilty to a theft charge, got probation, completed it, and had the case set aside. His lawyer told him it would not be on his record. He believed…
The Detective Just Called and Asked You to Come In. Call a Lawyer First
Why the window before an arrest is the most valuable time in a Baton Rouge criminal case, and the one almost nobody uses. Almost every criminal defense lawyer in Baton Rouge has had the same conversation. A new client sits down, slides a police report across the table, and says something like: I already talked…
There Is a Warrant Out for You in East Baton Rouge Parish. Now What?
Most people find out the same way. A traffic stop on Airline that should have taken ten minutes turns into handcuffs. A background check for a new job comes back with something on it. A family member calls and says a deputy came by the house asking questions. By then the choice has already been…
Arrested Near LSU: What Baton Rouge Students and Parents Need to Know
The fall semester is barely underway and football season is here. Every year at this time our phones start ringing with the same call. A parent in Texas or Metairie or Shreveport is on the line at two in the morning because their son or daughter just got arrested outside a bar in Tigerland, at…
Immigration Habeas Corpus in the Fifth Circuit: What Families in Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas Need to Know
If someone you love has been picked up by ICE and taken to Jena, Winnfield, Basile, Natchez or one of the detention centers in South Texas, you have probably already heard the words “no bond.” You may have been told there is nothing to be done until the immigration judge rules, and that the wait…
How Bond Works in East Baton Rouge Parish
Bond is not a punishment and it is not a fine. It is security that you will appear. Louisiana courts consider a set of factors when setting the amount, including the seriousness of the offense, the weight of the evidence, prior criminal history, ties to the community, employment, and the risk of flight. In practice,…
Baton Rouge City Court or the 19th JDC? Which Court Will Hear Your Case
People routinely show up at the wrong courthouse. It is an understandable mistake, because Baton Rouge has two criminal courts operating within a few blocks of each other and the routing rule is not obvious. The short version: the level of the charge and the place of the alleged offense decide the court, not where…
Resisting Arrest and Battery on a Police Officer Charges in Baton Rouge
It’s common for someone arrested in Baton Rouge to end up facing more than the original charge that started the encounter — resisting arrest and battery on a police officer are two of the charges we see added most often, sometimes even when the underlying original charge is minor or later dropped entirely. Resisting arrest…
Expunging a Criminal Record in East Baton Rouge Parish
A lot of people who’ve resolved a criminal case in Baton Rouge — whether through a dismissal, an acquittal, or completing a sentence — don’t realize the record doesn’t just disappear on its own. Louisiana has a formal expungement process, handled through the Clerk of Court, and eligibility depends heavily on the type of offense…
Probation Violations in the 19th JDC: What Happens at a Revocation Hearing
Being placed on probation instead of going to prison is often a huge relief — but it comes with real conditions, and violating those conditions in East Baton Rouge Parish can bring someone back in front of a 19th Judicial District Court judge for a revocation hearing. Violations generally fall into two categories: technical violations,…
