On April 4, President Donald Trump was arraigned in a New York City courtroom on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. But what are indictments and arraignments? How do they work? Does everyone go through them? We (along with PBS) thought this interesting period in history might make a good opportunity to take on these topics. What’s an indictment? A criminal indictment is a formal accusation of a crime, brought against an individual by a [...]

The consequences for a DUI conviction in Tennessee can be quite severe. You may be imprisoned and fined. Your insurance rates will skyrocket. Your license will probably be suspended. At Banks and Jones, our skilled criminal defense lawyers assert every defense possible, including challenging the grounds for being stopped and the validity of any chemical tests such as breathalyzer tests. One possible defense is that you were not intoxicated. The signs of intoxication that an officer [...]

Defendants who are arrested in Knoxville for any crime have a right to a bail hearing. The purpose of the bail hearing is for a judge to determine if the defendant should be released from prison and the terms of the release. Defendants who cannot meet the bail release terms remain in prison until the time of their hearing. Generally, in addition to being free pending a trial, defendants want to be released because it is [...]