Chicago Criminal Law Blog

Chicago Criminal Attorney Comments on Legislation to Restore the Death Penalty

2012-02-21T19:43:00.000-08:00

This Chicago criminal defense attorney has posted here, about the Illinois death penalty moratorium, now it appears your legislators in Springfield think the death penalty should come back.

House Bill 5912:

Amends the Criminal Code of 1961 relating to first degree murder. Adds and eliminates aggravating factors for which the death penalty may be imposed. Amends the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963. Eliminates provision that abolishes the sentence of death. Enacts the Capital Crimes Litigation Act of 2012. Provides that all unobligated and unexpended moneys remaining in the Death Penalty Abolition Fund on the effective date of the amendatory Act shall be transferred into the Capital Litigation Trust Fund.

Three things to consider:

Capital punishment is almost never a deterrent to crime

Civilized People don't kill other people

After a sentence of death, there are extraordinary litigation expenses, borne by taxpayers, by the condemned to appeal.

Can we really afford to reinstate capital punishment here in the land of Lincoln?

Chicago Criminal Attorney's Open Letter to The Honorable X

2012-01-10T15:32:00.000-08:00

Dear Your Honor X:

I was shocked when I heard this today; I really hope it’s just a horrible rumor. Unfortunately, it just doesn't ring false.

I heard that you thought the Young Prosecutor would agree with you. You probably thought he felt the same way you did. Fortunately, for those of us who care about justice, this young prosecutor included, he doesn’t agree with you.

If you think you deserve to wear a robe and decide the fate of lives before you then surely you must have misspoken. I would rather believe the Young Prosecutor just doesn’t like you. Although, I must admit, I’ve never heard him speak poorly of anyone, defendants included, in the years that I’ve known him.

But, to come quickly to my point, because I know your time is valuable, if you earnestly can’t conceive of a time that you would ever believe a word coming out of a defendant’s mouth, as you said to the Young Prosecutor, please, please for the sake of justice, step down from your position as judge.

I’m ever grateful that the Young Prosecutor didn’t agree with you and even told other defenders of justice exactly what you said.

So please don't be offended when my peers and I smile and politely ask for a Substitution of Judge for each and every matter before you.

Respectfully,

Ava George Stewart

Chicago Criminal Attorney Wonders Why Santa Can Be More Realistic Than Justice

2011-12-06T15:02:00.000-08:00

You already know that in Illinois you have a right to a jury trial. The Constitution of the State of Illinois states, “The right of trial by jury as heretofore enjoyed shall remain inviolate.” Additionally, that means a group of citizens must reach a unanimous decision. But one of the difficulties for defense attorneys across the country is to acknowledge the practice of a jury tax.

A jury tax is not a payment made in the form of money. It is not a punishment imposed on the members of the jury. A jury tax is an unseemly, and unconstitutional, practice where a judge will sentence the accused more harshly, assuming a guilty verdict, simply because the accused chose to exercise her or his constitutional right to a trial by a jury.

Rarely will a judge admit to administering a jury tax, but if you are a lawyer, that old saying about “knowing your judge” is essential when providing the best advice you can to your client.

How can jury taxes be eliminated when judges won’t acknowledge the existence of such a thing?

Chicago Criminal Attorney Comments on the U.S. Supreme Court's Reversal of the Stay of Execution for Troy Davis

2011-09-21T19:48:00.000-07:00

Whoa! Any moment now, Troy Davis will take his last breath. A few hours ago, The U.S. Supreme Court weighed in and the imminent execution was off, now the U.S. Supreme Court has decided to let the State of Georgia continue meting out its version of Justice.

From the Atlanta Journal Constitution, moments ago:

The Supreme Court late Wednesday rejected an 11th-hour request to block the execution of Troy Davis, who convinced hundreds of thousands of people but not the justice system of his innocence in the murder of an off-duty police officer.

The court did not comment on its order late Wednesday, four hours after receiving the request. Davis' execution had been set to begin at 7 p.m., but the high court's decision was not issued until after 10 p.m.

Is this the America that makes you proud?

Chicago Criminal Attorney Comments on the U.S. Supreme Court's Stay of Execution for Troy Davis

2011-09-21T17:48:00.000-07:00

This Chicago Criminal Attorney has posted here and here on executions. Still she's pleasantly surprised that the U.S. Supreme Court has issued a Stay of Execution (that doesn't mean that an execution won't occur later, but it isn't going to occur in a few hours for Troy Davis of Georgia).

September 21, Atlanta, GA:

Troy Davis' execution was delayed tonight as the Supreme Court weighed arguments by Davis' legal team and the state of Georgia over whether he deserves a stay.

At 7:05 p.m., five minutes after his scheduled death, Davis' supporters

erupted in cheers, hugs and tears outside the jail in Jackson, Ga., as supporters believed Davis had been saved from the death penalty. But Davis was granted only a temporary reprieve as the Supreme Court considers the decision.

The warrant for Davis' execution is valid until Sept. 28. The Georgia Resource Center, part of Davis' legal defense team, said it was unsure how long the delay would last.

This is huge news. Meanwhile, back in Texas, an avowed white supremacist is executed for the brutal death of James Byrd, Jr.

Chicago Criminal Attorney Isn't Surprised by the Change of Fortune for DSK

2011-08-23T18:30:00.000-07:00

In a stunning turn of events, albeit not unexpected, the Manhattan District Attorney has asked that all charges against Dominique Strauss-Kahn be dismissed.

From the New York Times:

The coda to one of New York’s most gripping and erratic criminal dramas lasted all of 12 minutes.

Then the judge spoke.

And just like that, the sexual-assault case againstDominique Strauss-Kahn was dismissed Tuesday, bringing an abrupt end to what had been a three-month episodic criminal investigation, each chapter offering a sensational twist on the underlying storyline: Mr. Strauss-Kahn, a man of international power and prestige, was accused of sexually assaulting an immigrant hotel housekeeper after she entered his suite to clean it.

The dismissal order issued by Justice Michael J. Obus of State Supreme Court in Manhattan brought some semblance of legal vindication to Mr. Strauss-Kahn, 62, after his stunning and embarrassing arrest more than three months ago. He was taken into custody on May 14 aboard an Air France jet at Kennedy International Airport, and then appeared disheveled and in handcuffs before news cameras.

While many don’t understand (or perhaps more accurately, don’t like it), in lower profile cases across the country, prosecutors make the decision to dismiss charges against the accused. Being a cad doesn't make one a criminal.

Chicago Criminal Attorney Comments on the Prosecution's Failure to Reveal Everything in the Casey Anthony Case

2011-07-19T13:52:00.000-07:00

What happens when the prosecutors withhold information? The breaking news story involves a recently vilified accused who was released from jail, after serving her sentence last weekend.

From the New York Times:New York Times

The designer, John Bradley, said Ms. Anthony had visited what the prosecution said was a crucial Web site only once, not 84 times, as prosecutors had asserted. He came to that conclusion after redesigning his software, and immediately alerted prosecutors and the police about the mistake, he said.

The finding of 84 visits was used repeatedly during the trial to suggest that Ms. Anthony had planned to murder her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee, who was found dead in 2008. Ms. Anthony, who could have faced the death penalty, was acquitted of the killing on July 5.

According to Mr. Bradley, chief software developer of CacheBack, used by the police to verify the computer searches, the term “chloroform” was searched once through Google. The Google search then led to a Web site,sci-spot.com, that was visited only once, Mr. Bradley added. The Web site offered information on the use of chloroform in the 1800s.

Assertions by the prosecution that Casey Anthony conducted extensive computer searches on the word “chloroform” were based on inaccurate data, a software designer who testified at the trial said Monday.

He found both reports were inaccurate (although NetAnalysis came up with the correct result), in part because it appears both types of software had failed to fully decode the entire file, due to its complexity. His more thorough analysis showed that the Web site sci-spot.com was visited only once — not 84 times.

Mr. Bradley, fearing that jurors were being given false information based on his data, contacted the police and the prosecution the weekend of June 25. He asked Sergeant Stenger about the discrepancy, and the sergeant said he was aware of it, Mr. Bradley said. He waited to see if prosecutors would correct the record. They did not.

“They needed to get that right,” Mr. Bradley said.

Here’s the gasp that comes from every defense attorney, we know human nature and we do worry about what if’s. Is it possible that the jury wouldn’t have returned a single guilty verdict if they knew that the prosecutor’s own witness was mistaken?

Chicago Criminal Attorney Comments on the Not Guilty of Murder! (except in The Court of Public Opinion?)

2011-07-05T12:02:00.000-07:00

The jury has deliberated and found Casey Anthony not guilty of the murder of her toddler. The jury did find her guilty of providing false information to the police.

It looks like the defense was able to successfully create a doubt in the government’s case that the mother did it. In fact the defense’s position was that no one killed the child. Instead, the child died in a tragic accident involving a pool and the accused’s father, the child’s grandfather, decided to place the child’s body in the woods to make it appear that the child was killed.

It’s a rare case with an even rarer finding. Another “Notice to Prosecutors” everywhere – know where the line of ‘beyond every reasonable doubt’ is for each case you have, and be sure to take your compelling case over it.

From the Orlando Sentinel:

Casey Anthony is not guilty of first-degree murder in the killing of her two-year-old daughter Caylee Marie.

Prosecutors did not prove Casey Anthony was guilty of capital murder in the death of her 2-year-old daughter Caylee Marie, a 12-member jury found this afternoon

Her parents, George and Cindy Anthony, walked out of the courtroom while Casey Anthony was being fingerprinted.

The verdict means 25-year-old Anthony was found not guilty of all charges except for four counts of providing false information to law enforcement officer. She will be spared a death sentence, but could still potentially face years behind bars in a Florida prison.

She will be sentenced Thursday at 9 a.m.

Still a little girl has died and her mother will be viewed by many in the public eye as guilty of the child’s death, despite the jury verdict. It just goes to show that sometimes the court of public opinion matters the most.

Chicago Criminal Attorney on the Decisions Rendered Against Former Governor Rod Blagojevich

2011-06-27T12:35:00.000-07:00

This Chicago Criminal Attorney posted earlier today about the jury failing to come to a unanimous decision on only 2 of the 20 counts. That means unanimous decisions were made on 18 separate counts in the governments second bite at former governor Rod Blagojevich.

June 27, Chicago, Il:

A federal jury today convicted former Gov. Rod Blagojevich on 17 of 20 counts, finding he brazenly abused the powers of his office in a series of attempted shakedowns captured on undercover government recordings.

Blogojevich showed no reaction as the jury announced their decisions, then sat back in his chair with his lips pursed and looked toward his wife Patti and whispered, "I love you."

As the first guilty verdict was announced, Patti Blagojevich slumped into the arms of her brother, who stroked her head. Before the verdict was even read, she had started crying. She kept shaking her head "no" as the jurors left the courtroom.

This marks the second time in less than a year that the 54-year-old Blagojevich, the only Illinois chief executive ever impeached and ousted from office, had been convicted of a crime. The jury at his first trial last summer found him guilty of lying to the FBI, though that panel deadlocked on all the other counts. That impasse set the stage for a retrial.

Next will be a flurry of appeals and the defense attempting to stay sentencing I suspect.

Watch the video for immediate analysis in the aftermath of the trial.

Multisource political news, world news, and entertainment news analysis by Newsy.com

Chicago Criminal Attorney Comments on the Pending Verdict Announcement of the Former Governor

2011-06-27T09:04:00.000-07:00

Standby!

This Chicago Criminal attorney has posted here and here about the trials and tribulations of former governor Rod Blagojevich.

The jury has reached a verdict on 18 of the 20 counts against former governor Rod Blagojevich. The verdict will be announced this afternoon.

Breaking News!

The jury deciding the fate of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich has reached a verdict on 18 of 20 counts, Judge James Zagel just announced in court.

“The jury has come to a unanimous decision on 18 of 20 counts … We are confident that we will not able to come to agreement on the two counts even with further deliberation,” the note from the jury read.

Anyone else astonished that 2 of the 20 counts are still unresolved?

Chicago Criminal Attorney Comments on Resentencing

2011-06-24T09:15:00.000-07:00

This Chicago Criminal Attorney posted here and here about the disgraced mogul Conrad Black. Today is a big day for Mr. Black. He will be resentenced today.

July 24, Chicago, Il:

Competing portraits of Conrad Black — once one of the world’s most powerful media moguls — will be on display Friday in Chicago at his resentencing hearing, where a judge will decide whether he heads back behind bars or remains free for good.

The resentencing is a climax of a long legal saga for Black, 66, who rubbed shoulders with the rich and powerful before his fall to disgrace, convicted in 2007 and sentenced to 6 ½ years for defrauding investors in Hollinger International Inc., former owner of the Chicago Sun-Times.

Black, whose empire also once included The Daily Telegraph of London and small papers across the U.S. and Canada, was freed on bail after serving two years to let him to pursue what would be partially successful appeals.

The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago last year tossed out two of Black’s fraud convictions but upheld a conviction for fraud and one for obstruction of justice. And it said Judge St. Eve would have to sentence Black again for those two standing counts.

Even with a partial victory in the 7th Circuit,and more than two years spent in prison, the judge can still send him back to prison on the remaining counts.

Chicago Criminal Attorney Comments on Illinois Being the Last One Standing on Concealed Weapons

2011-06-23T12:28:00.000-07:00

This Chicago Criminal Attorney has posted here and here about gun laws. After the vote in Wisconsin, Illinois is about to become the only state in the nation that prohibits the concealed carrying of weapons.

June 22, Madison, WI:

When Wisconsin’s law allowing citizens to carry concealed weapons goes into effect, Shawn Winrich is likely to take advantage of it. But if he does, he’ll do it grudgingly.

Winrich, a 34-year-old Madison resident and a member of the gun rights group Wisconsin Carry, likes to carry his Glock 17. He’s done it openly for about a year, but he doesn’t like the idea of paying a permit fee to carry it concealed.

“The bill is somewhat reasonable,” says Winrich. “But it still doesn’t change the fact that it’s still a violation of the constitutional rights that are secured by the state Constitution, which says (you can carry firearms for) ‘any lawful purpose’ and the U.S. Constitution says ‘these rights shall not be infringed.’ But yet the state still thinks it can regulate and impose a tax on guns. And that’s just not right.”

But gun control advocates say otherwise.

On its website, the Violence Policy Center keeps a running total of “concealed carry killers,” citizens legally permitted to carry firearms who have committed murder. Since May 2007, the group has documented 309 people killed by legal carriers, including 11 law enforcement officers. The list of offenders includes Jared Lee Loughner, who in January opened fire at an event in Tucson, Ariz., held by U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, killing six and gravely wounding several others, including Giffords.

And when chinks in the permit systems in Texas and Florida were exposed by media reports, the NRA went back to legislatures to make the names of permit holders off-limits to the public, as they will be in Wisconsin. Among other problems, journalists found that hundreds of felons were issued permits to carry concealed weapons.

When do you think concealed carry will come to the Land of Lincoln?

Chicago Criminal Attorney Comments on Why We Can't Afford Wrongful Convictions

2011-06-22T08:06:00.000-07:00

This Chicago Criminal Attorney has posted here and here about wrongful arrests, errors, and the exonerated. Did it occur to you, that there's a high cost to you, the taxpayer for a wrongful arrest and/or conviction?

From the nytimes.com:

On a cool September evening in 1981, a 44-year-old woman was getting into her car on the roof level of a Rush Street parking garage when a man pushed her into the front seat, then beat and raped her as she struggled in vain to get a good look at him.

The man stuffed the bleeding woman into the trunk and tried to drive away, but he was stopped by an alert cashier who recognized the car but not the driver. When she heard the woman screaming and pounding from the trunk, the man jumped out of the car and ran.

A few days later, the cashier picked Jerry Miller out of a police lineup. Mr. Miller, who had never been arrested before, had been stopped by an officer in the area several days earlier while seeking a job at a doughnut shop. The officer thought he resembled the composite sketch of the rapist.

Mr. Miller was convicted of rape, robbery and aggravated kidnapping and spent 25 years in prison. Robert Weeks, the man later linked to the rape by DNA evidence, went on to rape or assault four more women, injure police officers in three other attacks and commit other robberies and beatings over 23 years.

Mr. Miller was convicted of rape, robbery and aggravated kidnapping and spent 25 years in prison. Robert Weeks, the man later linked to the rape by DNA evidence, went on to rape or assault four more women, injure police officers in three other attacks and commit other robberies and beatings over 23 years.

Mr. Weeks was eventually convicted of two of the rapes and sentenced to life in prison. Mr. Miller received $6.3 million in the settlement of a lawsuit against the city.

Mr. Miller’s case is one of 85 analyzed in a sweeping report being released Monday by the Better Government Association and the Center on Wrongful Convictions at Northwestern University School of Law.

The association, a nonprofit watchdog and advocacy group, said the study was the first to document the economic and social costs of the 85 convictions in the state that were overturned between 1989 — the advent of modern DNA testing — and 2010. In all, the study said, those wrongful convictions have cost Illinois taxpayers $214 million, and the amount will probably increase to $300 million once 16 pending lawsuits are settled.

“The public pays in multiple ways” for errors or willful misconduct by law enforcement officials, said John Conroy, a veteran reporter, association senior investigator and co-writer of the report. “The whole community pays when the real criminal is left on the street and goes out and commits other felonies.”

The perpetrators of crimes for which others were convicted went on to commit at least 94 more felonies, including 14 murders and 11 sexual assaults, according to the study. It said 83 men and 2 women spent a total of 926 years behind bars for crimes they did not commit.

These numbers are alarming. Let's hope this study slows down the rush to convict others going forward.

Chicago Criminal Attorney Comments on the Attenuated Correlation between Drugs and Crime

2011-06-16T20:42:00.000-07:00

This Chicago Criminal Attorney knows that for decades people have looked for correlations in crime. They’ve made them based on IQ, race, gender, and income levels. Now they are making that relationship to drugs in the city.

June 16, Chicago, IL:

About 83 percent of men arrested in Chicago last year tested positive for illegal drugs, according to a federal study that put Chicago at the top of 10 major U.S. cities.

That percentage is actually somewhat lower than in years past, the study by the Office of National Drug Control Policy said. In 2001, for instance, 89.6 percent of adult men arrested in Chicago tested positive for drugs.

Low city on the list was Washington D.C., with 52 percent. Next closest to Chicago was Sacramento at 80 percent. Other cities in the study were Atlanta, Charlotte, Denver, Indianapolis, Minneapolis, New York and Portland.

The study, the fourth conducted, was done to illustrate the link between drug use and crime. Nationally, more than half of adult males arrested tested positive for at least one drug.

"These findings illustrate why we must approach the nation's drug problem as a public health and safety problem," said Gil Kerlikowski, director of the drug control policy office. "Drug addiction is too often the root of crime in our communities."

Anyone else with research or statistics background see a flaw, perhaps even a bit of circular logic?

Chicago Criminal Attorney Comments on Heat Wars

2011-06-15T18:07:00.000-07:00

This Chicago Criminal Attorney likes heat. She can understand the heat wars between sisters.

June 13, Chicago, IL:

A 62-year-old Plainfield woman whose simmering feud with her sister over the thermostat setting in their home escalated into a fight last year was found not guilty of battery Monday.

Before returning his verdict, Will County Judge Brian Barrett said he couldn't tell which of the sisters started the brawl over whether the ambient air temperature should be 67 or 68 degrees.

"Leave that (expletive) thermostat alone," Lupina said as she descended the stairs, according to Sales.

Lupina testified that Sales was sitting on the couch keeping an eye on the thermostat when she came downstairs. She said she saw Sales jump up, walk over and twice shove her away from the thermostat before throwing punches that left her with a black eye.

"I was in shock," Lupina said.

But Sales testified that Lupina was standing in front of the thermostat when she tried to change it back to 68. A fight broke out after Lupina shoved her, Sales said.

"Nothing I did pleased her — I couldn't do anything right in her eyes," Sales said.

Still, was this prosecution a good use of tax payer money? FYI- These two combatants still live together.

Chicago Criminal Attorney Comments on Child Pornography in Law Enforcement

2011-06-14T11:28:00.000-07:00

This Chicago Criminal attorney has posted here and here about those charged as sex offenders. No she doesn’t have the solution, but today’s sentencing of an Illinois State Police Officer makes it clear that this is an illness. It’s an illness and that does not negate the wrong but my goodness.

From chicagobreakingnews.com:

A retired Illinois State Police trooper who admitted viewing child pornography on a state-issued laptop computer while sitting in his squad car supposedly looking for speeding motorists was sentenced today to 60 days in the DuPage County Jail.

Juan Rodriguez, 51, of Glen Ellyn, a 27-year veteran of the Illinois State Police, pleaded guilty today to official misconduct and possession of child pornography. He is to begin serving his sentence later this year following the completion of a sex offender evaluation.

Assistant State's Attorney Helen Kapas Erdman told Judge George Bakalis that Rodriguez's name first appeared in connection with child pornography during a 2003 federal investigation into child pornography sites, and then again in 2008 when another federal investigation showed him viewing child pornography sites and using a personal credit card to pay $99 to join a website.

The investigation led back to the defendant’s state-issued laptop, which he used while he was on duty for Illinois State Police District 15, the tollway division. He was assigned to an overtime detail designed to run traffic patrols.

"He was using the ISP mobile data computer in his squad to view and download these images," Kapas Erdman said.

"He claimed to have his interest sparked by newspaper articles and he wanted to see what the big deal was," she said. Bakalis was told that Rodriguez looked at the websites two or three times a year over six years.

I suspect there are people who make and work in pornography that wouldn’t ever watch child pornography. Let alone watch it at work on the property of their employer.

Chicago Criminal Attorney Comments on Parole Violations

2011-06-13T13:03:00.000-07:00

This Chicago Criminal attorney has posted here about parole.

One of the biggest challenges is not “catching” any more cases. Pleading guilty or being found guilty of a new criminal charge can trigger a parole violation. If you violate the terms and conditions of your parole you could be forced to spend the remaining prison sentence inside, instead of outside with a P.O. (Probation/Parole Officer).

It doesn’t even matter if you are a scion, you could land right back in prison.

From chicagobreakingnews.com:

Ryan LeVin turned himself in to Illinois Department of Corrections custody this morning at Stateville Correctional Center in Joliet, a spokeswoman for the department said.

LeVin, who was convicted in the hit-and-run deaths of two British tourists in Florida, surrendered to authorities just after 10:50 a.m. in Illinois for a parole violation, and he will await his parole hearing in prison, a state official said.

Officials sought his extradition in a parole violation stemming from a 2006 incident in which he ran over a Chicago police officer and sparked a high-speed chase on the Kennedy Expressway. He is accused of violating the terms of his parole last year when he traveled without permission to Florida to answer the vehicular homicide charges against him.

When someone first mentioned this case, they were aghast that he had left Illinois without the court’s permission. I explained, frequently, people just didn’t understand that they must ask the court for permission. Somehow I suspect he thought since he had a court date in another jurisdiction he wouldn’t have to ask for permission to leave Illinois.

Chicago Criminal Attorney Comments on the Increase in Boots on the Ground

2011-06-12T11:46:00.000-07:00

This Chicago Criminal attorney has posted on the decrease in crime trend, real or merely purported, here, here, and here. Today, more boots are on the ground.

June 12, Chicago, IL:

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel today announced the redeployment of 150 more police officers to beat patrol positions as part of his campaign pledge to add more cops to the streets.

"These officers are going to be the backbone of our police department, working on the beat," Emanuel told several reporters and roughly 50 parkgoers huddled at the Illinois Centennial Monument in Logan Square. "Now remember, we have to have a comprehensive strategy: More police on the street and getting kids, guns and drugs off our street."

Emanuel noted the announcement today of the additional officers -- from administrative and clerical capacities -- comes less than a month after the mayor told reporters at a South Side police station that 400 officers would be redeployed to beat cop duties while another 100 work in various parts of the city to respond to flare-ups in crime.

Looks like the mayor is adding more police to the streets before all the gains made in decreasing crime are erased.

Chicago Criminal Attorney Comments on Crime Decreases and Youthful Mobs

2011-06-11T13:34:00.000-07:00

This Chicago Criminal Attorney posted here and here about the decrease in crime in Chicago. Then the weather changed. It was hot. People were out. Economic conditions for young people worsened. There were several mob attacks. This time it wasn’t left to speculation, unlike the closing of North Avenue Beach earlier.

June 10, Chicago, IL:

Two 18-year-old men and a 16-year-old boy face charges including robbery in an attack on two teens downtown Tuesday evening just west of Michigan Avenue, prosecutors said.

Starting with the incidents over the weekend, 32 people have been arrested in connection with robberies and disturbances involving multiple people in the Near North District, said Chicago Police News Affairs Sgt. Antoinette Ursitti.

One of the victims in Tuesday's attack, a 16-year-old boy, told the Tribune that his wallet was snatched from behind by a group of youths, prompting him and his friend to chase them.

The 16-year-old said he tripped and fell, and the group stopped and started attacking him and his friend, who police said is 19.

Anecdotally, a young man had a laptop and iPod stolen at a Metra station at the beginning of the week. Also a friend had his iphone stolen on the red line. I don’t believe those crimes were reported.

Chicago Criminal Attorney Comments on the Decrease in Sentencing Disparity

2011-06-10T20:21:00.000-07:00

This Chicago Criminal attorney has posted here and here about sentencing disparities. While the changes are way overdue, finally there’s less disparity in sentencing for drugs than there was before.

From The U.S. Sentencing Commission:

U.S. SENTENCING COMMISSION PROMULGATES PERMANENT AMENDMENT

TO THE FEDERAL SENTENCING GUIDELINES

COVERING CRACK COCAINE, OTHER DRUG TRAFFICKING OFFENSES

Also promulgates amendments regarding firearms and other offenses

WASHINGTON, D.C.― Today the United States Sentencing Commission promulgated amendments to the federal sentencing guidelines covering drug trafficking offenses, firearms offenses, and other federal offenses.

The Commission promulgated a permanent amendment implementing the provisions of the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 (Pub. L. No. 111–220). The Fair Sentencing Act, signed by the President on August 3, 2010, among other things, reduced the statutory mandatory minimum penalties for crack cocaine trafficking and eliminated the mandatory minimum sentence for simple possession of crack cocaine. Specifically, the Act reduced the statutory penalties for offenses involving manufacturing or trafficking in crack cocaine by raising the quantities required to trigger statutory mandatory minimum terms of imprisonment — from 5 grams to 28 grams for a five-year mandatory minimum and from 50 to 280 grams for a 10-year mandatory minimum. The Act also contained directives to the Commission to review and amend the federal sentencing guidelines to account for certain aggravating and mitigating circumstances in drug trafficking cases to better account for offender culpability.

Is there still disparity? Absolutely. Is that disparity still to great? Yes.

Chicago Criminal Attorney Comments on the Difficulty in Protecting Gun Rights in Chicago

2011-06-09T18:52:00.000-07:00

This Chicago Criminal Attorney gets asked, by people who know her, what do they have to do in order to get a Concealed Carry Permit in Illinois. I tend to shake my head and tell them they don’t want to be a test case to figure out where the law, especially in Chicago, may fall on that issue.

Still, the Illinois Supreme Court did recently rule to make it easier for those who are out-of-state and valid FOID card holders to avoid being harassed here in Illinois.

People v. Holmes, No. 109130:

Defendant was charged by information with two counts of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon. Count I alleged that defendant carried in his vehicle an “uncased, loaded, and immediately accessible” firearm. Count II alleged defendant carried in his vehicle a firearm and “had not been issued a currently valid Firearm Owner’s Identification Card.” A jury, in the circuit court of Cook County, returned a general verdict of guilty and the appellate court affirmed.

The record reveals the following. On May 8, 2005, defendant, Leonard Holmes, a resident of Indiana, was stopped by Chicago police officers for a traffic violation on 115th Street in Chicago. At that time, a gun was recovered from a backseat armrest in his car. This armrest separated the two back seats and contained a storage compartment that closed with a latch. The compartment could be

Folded up into the seat or left in a down position. At the time the gun was recovered, the compartment was closed and latched.

We agree with defendant that the two statutes must be read together in order to avoid absurd results. Reading the statutes separately, as the appellate court did, would mean that an out-of-state resident who transports a firearm into Illinois when the firearm is legally registered in his home state would be exempt from

misdemeanor prosecution under the FOID Card Act but that the same conduct would subject such individual to felony prosecution under section 24–1.6(a)(1)(3)(C). This cannot be what the legislature intended. Reading these statutes together, as we must, we find that the exception identified in section 2(b)(10) of the FOID Card Act can be applied to the unlawful use of weapons statute and, therefore, a valid permit or license from another state can substitute for the FOID card requirement in section 24–1.6. Accordingly, we hold that the exception contained in section 2(b)(10) must be incorporated in the unlawful use of weapons act.

The State argues that, even if the exception contained in section 2(b)(10) applies to the unlawful use of weapons statute, defendant cannot avail himself of that exception because he did not have his Indiana permit in his possession at the time of his arrest. According to the State, this is a requirement in order to invoke the exception. We disagree.

The unlawful use of a weapon statute provides that it is an aggravating factor where the defendant “has not been issued a currently valid FOID card.” The language of the unlawful use of a weapons statute only contemplates that a FOID card has been issued to that individual. There is no requirement in the unlawful use of weapons statute that an individual have his or her FOID card or other similar permit in his or her possession. Accordingly, we reject the State’s argument.

There’s more and you really should read the court’s decision. I’m wondering if Mr. Holmes has bothered coming back to Chicago after a “routine traffic” stop turned into the big case of the year in Illinois on gun rights.

Chicago Criminal Attorney Comments on Illegal Bath Salts

2011-06-08T16:32:00.000-07:00

When I was growing up, there was a fantastic TV commercial that featured a harried woman. She was pulled in every direction until she finally screams, “Calgon take me away!” The next shot she is smiling in her bath tub as a voice over discusses all of the benefits from using Calgon bath salts.

Welcome to the 21^st Century where bath salts go on a list of drugs just like methamphetamines and crack cocaine.

May 29, Springfield, Il:

Following the suspected overdose death last month of a downstate woman from taking a new synthetic drug marketed as bath salts, the Illinois House tonight sent the governor a ban on the product.

If Gov Pat Quinn signs the legislation, which passed the House 112-0, Illinois will become the 11th state to ban the synthetic drug methylenedioxypyrovalerone, or MDPV. The drug is sold legally over the counter at convenience stores and tobacco shops across the state. Packaged as bath salts and labeled "not for human consumption," MDPV gives users a hallucinogenic high similar to methamphetamine or ecstasy.

At what point do we try to stop legislating folks' ability to get high?

Chicago Criminal Attorney Comments on Job Prospects After Prison

2011-06-07T17:46:00.000-07:00

This Chicago Criminal attorney has posted here about the repercussions of a criminal charge to the rest of your life. You know, what happens after the charge is over.

Many people charged with crimes, especially those with prison sentences, have a difficult time reintegrating back into society. One of the most difficult issues is finding employment (heck this was a problem when times were good, not the economic slump we’ve created through our successful quest of efficiencies).

Another star athlete was released from prison yesterday. Despite his age, and his criminal background, his job prospects are better than many law-abiding folks.

From espn.com:

In his first precious moments as a free man again, Plaxico Burress embraced his wife and cradled his two young kids after being released from prison for serving nearly two years on a gun charge.

In the kind of heartfelt emotion that can only come from being away from family for so long, Burress soaked up the reunion with his loved ones. He looked like a giddy kid, even finding a few touching minutes to play with his two dogs.

Burress looked incredibly happy and humbled. He played peek-a-boo with his daughter while she was sitting inside the car and he was standing outside before later hopping into the back seat with his children.

Drew Rosenhaus, Burress' agent, said earlier on Monday morning that his client would travel to his home in South Florida and immediately begin training with other football players to begin his NFL comeback.

Rosenhaus, who jumped into Burress' arms moments after he walked out of the prison, also said Burress isn't ruling out a possible reunion with the New York Giants.

Burress has not played football since late November in 2008 when a handgun that was tucked in his sweatpants slipped from his waistband and went off as he tried to grab the gun while in a New York City nightclub. Burress shot himself in the thigh. Nearly a year later, he entered prison to serve his sentence in September of 2009.

Burress was released about three months early for good behavior.

Because he was a high-profile inmate, he was placed in a protective custody unit at the prison, which has 930 inmates, 20 in protective custody. While in prison, he completed an aggression management program and worked as a lawn and grounds laborer, according the state's Department of Correctional Services.

Burress violated prison rules and regulations three times: He lied to a guard about having permission to use the phone; gave another inmate a pair of black and silver sneakers that were deemed contraband; and had too many cassette tapes and an unauthorized extra pillow in his "filthy" cell.

Burress will be on parole for two years. He has to get and keep a job, undergo substance abuse testing, obey any curfew established by his Florida parole officer, support his family and undergo any anger counseling or other conditions required by his parole officer.

"I think he's learned an awful lot," Rosenhaus said. "He knows that he obviously made a mistake and certainly the maturation from being in this type of environment for so many months to reflect on your life and the things you might do differently. To miss two NFL seasons in the prime of your career, to not be with your family, most importantly, to lose out on millions and millions of dollars -- these are things that have forced him certainly to evaluate his life and we all would become a better person."

What can be done to prevent others from making the same mistake Plaxico made? After all, most folks with gun charges won’t ever have 32 viable employers considering them when they are released from prison.

Chicago Criminal Attorney Comments on a Continued Decrease in Crime

2011-06-06T14:56:00.000-07:00

This Chicago Criminal attorney has posted here and here about decreased crime. Almost two and a half year streak of decreased crime continues.

June 5, Chicago, Il:

Overall crime was down for the 29th consecutive month in Chicago, according to preliminary monthly crime statistics for the month of May released by police Sunday.

Total crime in the city fell 5.9 percent compared to crime numbers through May 2010, police said in a press release.

One of the more prevalent drops in May is that of homicide, down 16.3 percent. Through the end of May, there were 27 fewer homicides this year than the same time frame in 2010, police said. More than half of the 25 police districts citywide reported decreases in their homicide numbers.

Can you believe it? Well apparently, you aren’t the only one who is in disbelief:

From the Comments Section of the chicagotribune.com (in response to the article):

melken at 2:12 AM June 6, 2011

Figures lie and liars figure.....

Hey reporters, why don't you stop being such credulous chumps and go find out WHY the numbers are going down? It's NOT because crime is down. It IS because there's fewer cops, so more people just don't bother reporting anything because it wastes their time, they just suck it up and get on with life.

I'm sure these fictious numbers are comforting to those taxpayers who are victimized by the packs of gangbangers wandering downtown and the beaches.

Vin- A at 1:45 AM June 6, 2011

WHAT A HUGE LIE!

Patriot78 at 11:36 PM June 5, 2011

These touted reductions in crime are negligible at best. The new superintendent needs to be very careful since he will be blamed if the numbers go up.

So what do you think? Are people just not reporting crimes as melken thinks?

Chicago Criminal Attorney Wonders What You Can Do to Assist a Veteran?

2011-05-30T09:03:00.000-07:00

Today is Memorial Day. This Day has been set aside as a day of remembrance for those that have served this country in the military. Unfortunately, it’s become a day when many of us revel in cookouts and a vacation day from work with little, if any though given to those who sacrifice themselves in honor of this country.

I’ve posted here and here about criminal courts for veterans in Cook County. An opportunity to assist veterans who have fallen on hard times, and as a part of those difficulties, found themselves in the criminal system. Still, as I tell my clients, we will defend you in this case, but I’m interested in keeping you, and many of our veterans, from being charged in the first place.

This Memorial Day found me reading this piece in the Chicago Sun Times:

Army veteran Kevin Winkfield Jr. served as a combat medic helping save lives in Iraq, earned a bachelor’s degree in mass communications after his discharge and has diverse skills that he believes would benefit many employers. But this Memorial Day, just like last year, the 29-year-old Chicago resident is unemployed.

He’s not alone. In the midst of a continuing weak job market, the unemployment rate for Gulf War era II veterans, those who’ve served since September 2001, averaged 11.5 percent last year. That compares to 9.4 percent for non-veterans, according to the Labor Department. Veterans ages 18 to 24 fared even worse — more than one in five were unemployed.

One thing you can do is assist a veteran in obtaining a job or the necessary skills to get a job. Trust me, the higher the level of education and training, the higher the income.

Guess what significantly decreases when folks have meaningful work for meaningful wages?

Chicago Criminal Attorney Comments on When Your Home is NOT Your Castle

2011-05-16T19:06:00.000-07:00

This Chicago Criminal attorney was dismayed; heck you should hear her husband, when an Indiana Supreme Court ruled that the citizens of Indiana don’t have a right to keep the police out of their home.

From the Northwest Indiana Times:

Overturning a common law dating back to the English Magna Carta of 1215, the Indiana Supreme Court ruled Thursday that Hoosiers have no right to resist unlawful police entry into their homes.

In a 3-2 decision, Justice Steven David writing for the court said if a police officer wants to enter a home for any reason or no reason at all, a homeowner cannot do anything to block the officer's entry.

"We believe ... a right to resist an unlawful police entry into a home is against public policy and is incompatible with modern Fourth Amendment jurisprudence," David said. "We also find that allowing resistance unnecessarily escalates the level of violence and therefore the risk of injuries to all parties involved without preventing the arrest."

This particular decision leaves me at an utter and complete loss of words. Let’s see if this one ends up before the United States Supreme Court.

Chicago Criminal attorney comments on the mayor-elect's Mission Accomplished

2011-05-02T16:59:00.000-07:00

This Chicago Criminal attorney has today's big news (the local news, not the international news).

Chicago has a new ~~sheriff~~, Chief of Police in town.

May 2, Chicago, Il:

Mayor-elect Rahm Emanuel introduced Newark, N.J., police director Garry McCarthy on Monday as Chicago’s new police superintendent.

“He knows how to run a large police force,” said Emanuel.

He pointed to McCarthy’s experience as a top police official with the New York Police Department, where “he spent countless nights tied to the radio,” and noted that in Newark, overall crime fell 12 percent during his tenure.

“The murder rate in this city is way too high,” McCarthy said. It’s more than twice what it is in New York City.

He said he plans to build on the Chicago Police Department’s “great tradition” and promised to run the department as a meritocracy, saying officers’ work will be more important than who they know.

Speaking of his experience in New York after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, McCarthy noted he was there at Ground Zero.

“I learned how to lead with a coolness and confidence,” said McCarthy.

Anyone else, think his job is to continue cleaning house?

Chicago Criminal Attorney comments on undisclosed evidence in the battle for justice

2011-04-25T05:30:00.000-07:00

The other day, this Chicago Criminal Defense Attorney reminded a judge that my client had only me in his battle against all of the forces and vast resources of the government.

The judge made some complimentary comments about how well represented my client was. Still, I’m always surprised when the government thinks the defendant has an advantage.

Then you are reminded of just how uphill the battle for justice is for the accused.

April 21, New York, New York:

On a cold January day in 1992, a tow truck pulled into a parking lot behind a housing project in Brooklyn. Guided by a detective, the driver hooked up a brown Buick Skylark and hauled it to a police garage. Inside the car was a headband. Prosecutors said later that it belonged to a 16-year-old girl, Jennifer Negron, whose body was found at dawn on New Year’s Day 1992, dumped on the street a few blocks from where the car was parked. She was Homicide 001 of 2,020 in New York that year.

A prosecutor later told a jury that the headband, beyond all other evidence, proved the guilt of two men charged with snatching Jennifer off the street and forcing her into that brown Skylark. Both men were convicted in 1993 of kidnapping her.

Now the men, Everton Wagstaffe and Reginald Connor, have filed motions in State Supreme Court in Brooklyn, arguing that the verdict should be thrown out on the grounds that the police and the prosecutors covered up evidence that would have saved them from a guilty verdict in a crime they had nothing to do with.

During an extraordinary hearing last fall, a retired woman — with no known ties to anyone in the case — appeared. She had driven from Cottageville, S.C., to Brooklyn to testify that she used to live in the housing project where the car was found, that she was the owner of the Skylark, and that it could not possibly have been used in the crime because she had it at church that night.

The car owner, Betty Bonner-Moody, testified that she and her three daughters had driven to a Watch Night service at their church, arriving early to get a spot. Double-parkers quickly lined up along the street, she said.

“I was blocked in,” Ms. Bonner-Moody testified. “I couldn’t get out even if I wanted to.”

The service ran from before midnight until around 5 a.m., she said, and when she came out, her car was exactly where she had left it. Ms. Bonner-Moody said she had told the detectives, in 1992, that “it couldn’t have been” her car that was involved in the kidnapping.

Who says the government doesn’t hold the keys to freedom?

Chicago Criminal attorney comments on 4/20-- The High Holiday

2011-04-20T16:30:00.000-07:00

This Chicago Criminal Attorney knows that many of you are celebrating today's holiday.

No I don't mean Passover, Ridvan, or Easter. Today is 4/20.

Many of you may have gotten messages via email or on Facebook or Twitter commemorating today's "highliday".

Here's a brief run down from today's Huffington Post.

Warren Haynes, the Allman Brothers Band guitarist, routinely plays with the surviving members of the Grateful Dead, now touring as The Dead. He's just finished a Dead show in Washington, D.C. and gets a pop quiz from the Huffington Post.

Where does 420 come from?

He pauses and thinks, hands on his side. "I don't know the real origin. I know myths and rumors," he says. "I'm really confused about the first time I heard it. It was like a police code for smoking in progress or something. What's the real story?"

Depending on who you ask, or their state of inebriation, there are as many varieties of answers as strains of medical bud in California. It's the number of active chemicals in marijuana. It's teatime in Holland. It has something to do with Hitler's birthday. It's those numbers in that Bob Dylan song multiplied.

was Christmas week in Oakland, 1990. Steven Bloom was wandering through The Lot - that timeless gathering of hippies that springs up in the parking lot before every Grateful Dead concert - when a Deadhead handed him a yellow flyer.

"We are going to meet at 4:20 on 4/20 for 420-ing in Marin County at the Bolinas Ridge sunset spot on Mt. Tamalpais," reads the message, which Bloom dug up and forwarded to the Huffington Post. Bloom, then a reporter for High Times magazine and now the publisher of CelebStoner.com and co-author of Pot Culture, had never heard of "420-ing" before.

The flyer came complete with a 420 back story: "420 started somewhere in San Rafael, California in the late '70s. It started as the police code for Marijuana Smoking in Progress. After local heads heard of the police call, they started using the expression 420 when referring to herb - Let's Go 420, dude!"

Bloom reported his find in the May 1991 issue of High Times, which the magazine found in its archives and provided to the Huffington Post. The story, though, was only partially right.

It had nothing to do with a police code -- though the San Rafael part was dead on. Indeed, a group of five San Rafael High School friends known as the Waldos - by virtue of their chosen hang-out spot, a wall outside the school - coined the term in 1971. The Huffington Post spoke with Waldo Steve, Waldo Dave and Dave's older brother, Patrick, and confirmed their full names and identities, which they asked to keep secret for professional reasons. (Pot is still, after all, illegal.)

The Waldos never envisioned that pot smokers the world over would celebrate each April 20th as a result of their foray into the Point Reyes forest. The day has managed to become something of a national holiday in the face of official condemnation. This year's celebration will be no different. Officials at the University of Colorado at Boulder and University of California, Santa Cruz, which boast two of the biggest smoke outs, are pushing back. "As another April 20 approaches, we are faced with concerns from students, parents, alumni, Regents, and community members about a repeat of last year's 4/20 'event,'" wrote Boulder's chancellor in a letter to students. "On April 20, 2009, we hope that you will choose not to participate in unlawful activity that debases the reputation of your University and degree, and will encourage your fellow Buffs to act with pride and remember who they really are."

But the Cheshire cat is out of the bag. Students and locals will show up at round four, light up at 4:20 and be gone shortly thereafter. No bands, no speakers, no chants. Just a bunch of people getting together and getting stoned.

Still I want to remind you that many think marijuana is not illegal.

It is. I have this discussion with my clients all the time when they admit, to the police, that they have been smoking marijuana.

Steve Harvey of Family Feud was wrong! Even the Survey of 100 people has passing the joint ahead of passing the collection plate.

Let’s be careful out there!

Hat tip- SFS

Chicago Criminal lawyer wonders if Illinois can afford 3 years in prison for $500 worth of property damage

2011-03-28T18:55:00.000-07:00

This Chicago Criminal Defense lawyer isn’t surprised, but thinks you must tell your friends and family that a relatively small amount of money could land you in prison.

From People v. Vega, No. 2-09-0560:

Vega was charged by indictment with multiple offenses, including criminal damage to government-supported property in excess of $500 in connection with damage that he caused to a Loves Park police vehicle.

At trial, an officer testified that he learned that the damage was approximately $501. An estimator for the business that performed repairs to the vehicle testified that the total estimate was $501.93. The estimator stated that the actual bill in some cases could be more or less than the estimate, but since the vehicle here needed only one part, the bill would be the same as the estimate. He was not asked whether sales tax was included in the estimate. The written estimate was entered into evidence. It shows that $32.85 of the estimate was sales tax on parts and materials. There was no evidence provided regarding whether the tax was appropriate or whether the amount of the estimate or the tax was actually paid. The jury found Vega guilty.

In this case, the appellate court decided that Mr. Vega’s counsel was ineffective and remanded for a new trial. He was originally sentenced to three years in prison. Anyone else think that the taxpayers got the short end of the deal?

Chicago Criminal attorney comments on the repeal of the death penalty

2011-03-09T18:29:00.000-08:00

It has finally happened. We have a lot to be proud of here in Illinois. We’ve re-affirmed our humanity. Today, Governor Patrick Quinn has completed the long haul, started by disgraced former Governor George Ryan and a host of other, and signed into law, Senate Bill 3539 that abolishes the death penalty in Illinois.

From illinois.gov:

Today I have signed Senate Bill 3539, which abolishes the death penalty in Illinois.

For me, this was a difficult decision, quite literally the choice between life and death. This was not a decision to be made lightly, or a decision that I came to without deep personal reflection.

Since the General Assembly passed this bill, I have met or heard from a wide variety of people on both sides of the issue. I have talked with prosecutors, judges, elected officials, religious leaders from around the world, families of murder victims, people on death row who were exonerated and ordinary citizens who have taken the time to share their thoughts with me. Their experiences, words and opinions have made a tremendous impact on my thinking, and I thank everyone who reached out on this matter.

After their guidance, as well as much thought and reflection, I have concluded that our system of imposing the death penalty is inherently flawed. The evidence presented to me by former prosecutors and judges with decades of experience in the criminal justice system has convinced me that it is impossible to devise a system that is consistent, that is free of discrimination on the basis of race, geography or economic circumstance, and that always gets it right.

As a state, we cannot tolerate the executions of innocent people because such actions strike at the very legitimacy of a government. Since 1977, Illinois has seen 20 people exonerated from death row. Seven of those were exonerated since the moratorium was imposed in 2000. That is a record that should trouble us all. To say that this is unacceptable does not even begin to express the profound regret and shame we, as a society, must bear for these failures of justice.

Since our experience has shown that there is no way to design a perfect death penalty system, free from the numerous flaws that can lead to wrongful convictions or discriminatory treatment, I have concluded that the proper course of action is to abolish it. With our broken system, we cannot ensure justice is achieved in every case. For the same reason, I have also decided to commute the sentences of those currently on death row to natural life imprisonment, without the possibility of parole or release.

I have found no credible evidence that the death penalty has a deterrent effect on the crime of murder and that the enormous sums expended by the state in maintaining a death penalty system would be better spent on preventing crime and assisting victims’ families in overcoming their pain and grief.

Governor Quinn’s statement makes me proud to be in the Land of Lincoln.

Chicago Criminal attorney has a birthday within a crime scene

2011-02-28T18:26:00.000-08:00

This Chicago Criminal Defense Attorney had a birthday. Saturday night, her husband planned a fantastic party filled with friends. There was a problem, almost a third of the guests were late. They were very, very late.

Taking a show must go on approach, she checked her phone, the messages came through and a barrage of missed calls:

“Do you know what’s going on? can’t get near the restaurant”- text

"Hey, Ava. We are... this is. We are on our way with the Broadway blocked off. Apparently there's been some sort of ruckus so the police have blocked off a really wide area. So we're on our way. Got something... something has happened around here. So we'll be there as soon as we can. Camera, crews all around. Bye now".- vmail

From Chicago Breaking News:

A double homicide on the Far North Side Saturday evening prompted a pursuit that left one Chicago officer wounded and a suspect in the slayings dead from police gunfire.

Gang crimes officers on surveillance on the 5800 block of North Winthrop Avenue in the Edgewater neighborhood while looking into a narcotics-related homicide and saw a group of people run from the building, just before a call of "shot fired" came from the location at about 5:30 p.m., police said.

Upon entering the building police found three victims, two dead on the scene and the other in critical condition, in a fourth-floor apartment. As a marked police car attempted to stop the suspects who were fleeing in a vehicle that multiple witnesses later described as a pickup truck, the suspects rammed the squad car and fired at police, wounding one officer in the leg, according to a police statement.

For hours during the investigation, traffic was rerouted around the active crime scenes.

About a dozen onlookers gazed from the Red Line stop at Thorndale and Broadway, near the scene of where the officer was shot.

Keenan Morgan was about to leave his home behind Moody's Pub -- a restaurant located across the street from where the shooting happened -- when he heard what sounded like gunfire blasts.

"I heard 'Boom, boom, boom! Pow, pow, pow. It was very unexpected,” said Morgan, 23.

At the other roped-off crime scene near Glenwood and Devon Avenues, witnesses said they saw a short chase involving a pickup and several police cars westbound on Devon.

Rich Wamsley, who lives a block away from the scene, said he went out for some fresh air and was shocked by the police tape and flashing lights.

"It's pretty crazy," he said. "Wow. It's a scary thing to happen in our own neighborhood."

It’s not every day that my birthday party ends up in the boundaries of a crime scene.

Chicago Criminal attorney comments on budget cuts in the State's Attorney's office

2011-02-09T14:28:00.000-08:00

Looks like the State’s Attorney will back down. That’s not something a criminal defense attorney gets to say most days. Unfortunately, it’s not about a criminal matter. It’s actually about the administration of Cook County prosecutions.

From Chicago Breaking News:

Cook County State’s Atty. Anita Alvarez began notifying more than 100 administrative employees today that their positions are being eliminated due to a 10 percent spending cut likely to come when the county board votes on a budget later this month.

The 108 employees -- including secretaries, clerks, victim-witness specialists and community outreach employees -- were being notified in person to comply with a union-mandated 30-day notice of termination, said Sally Daly, spokeswoman for Alvarez.

“We are providing notice that their positions will be affected by the mandated budget cuts,” Daly said. “It’s a tough, tough day for this office. The people that we’re being forced to lay off, we’re not asking them to leave because of poor job performance.”

Many, including ASA’s, are wondering if they are next. It would be a travesty, but I really don’t know how we curtail the essential services the County provides.

Chicago Criminal attorney comments on the end of the death penalty in the Land of Lincoln

2011-01-31T15:51:00.000-08:00

This Chicago Criminal Attorney has posted here, here, and here about the problem with capital punishment. You know, it just not infallible. Anytime, the government has the power to take a life, it should be perfect. Almost perfect, is not good enough.

Even the Illinois legislature agreed. Still we wait for Governor Quinn, to act on his conscience and sign the bill. Here’s the intriguing part, get over that whole notion of reasonable people can disagree on this issue, 65 former prosecutors, a former governor, and a former Illinois Supreme Court justice, also think the Governor should sign the darn thing already.

January 22, Chicago, Il:

A group of 65 people that includes some of Illinois’ best-known legal names has sent Gov. Quinn a letter urging him to sign legislation abolishing the death penalty.

Among those signing the letter were former governor and federal prosecutor James R. Thompson, former Illinois Supreme Court Chief Justice Mary Ann G. McMorrow and former U.S. attorneys Dan Webb, Scott Lassar, James B. Burns and Thomas P. Sullivan.

“We are deeply concerned, as we know you are, about public safety,” states the letter, which also was signed by former state prosecutors, judges, assistant Illinois attorneys general, assistant federal prosecutors and U.S. Justice Department lawyers. “But there simply is no credible evidence that the death penalty deters crime.”

The letter also says using the death penalty “as an instrument of coercion” to get guilty pleas has led to false convictions and that trying to limit capital punishment to exceptionally heinous crimes would not eliminate its underlying flaws.

Come on Governor Quinn, what are you waiting for?

Chicago Criminal attorney comments on new laws with unintended consequences

2011-01-11T16:40:00.000-08:00

This Chicago Criminal attorney is concerned. Again, sometimes laws make so much sense on their face. Then you can see where it could so easily all go wrong. More new sex offender laws in 2011. Heads Up: Warn Your Kids! They could be charged.

720 ILCS 5/11-9 (c):

Public indecency is a Class A misdemeanor. A person convicted of a third or subsequent violation for public indecency is guilty of a Class 4 felony. Public indecency is a Class 4 felony if committed by a person 18 years of age or older who is on or within 500 feet of elementary or secondary school grounds when children are present on the grounds.

Looks like you better keep those high school seniors away from any other student. That’s probably not what your legislators had in mind when they thought about the folks who are 18 and older but I suspect the first to be charged with this will be students engaging in sexual behavior on the school grounds. Seriously, since when did freshmen not look to date seniors in high school and vice versa?

Chicago Criminal attorney comments on the exoneration of an innocent

2011-01-04T17:10:00.000-08:00

How do you right this wrong?

My husband asked me that question earlier today. We were talking about a travesty of justice being denied. Justice was delayed for about 30 years!

January 4, Dallas, TX:

"It's a joy to be free again," Cornelius Dupree Jr. told a courtroom full of lawyers, courthouse staff, media members and several fellow DNA exonerees this morning during his very brief testimony. Dupree spent 30 years in jail serving time for a robbery and rape he did not commit, but the hearing that exonerated him took only a few minutes. He served the most time of any person exonerated by DNA in Dallas County. After the judge told him he was free to go, applause and cries of "All right!" erupted in the courtroom.

Dupree, who is 51 now but was 21 when he was incarcerated in 1980 after a fudged eyewitness lineup resulted in faulty eyewitness identification, smiled broadly during the proceedings but spoke of "mixed emotions" about his official declaration of innocence. He's been out on parole since July of last year and married his wife the day he was released.

Still, he told reporters, "Words really can't make up for what I lost." While serving time, he said, "it was only by the grace of God that I was able to sustain."

This gentleman entered the prison system as a babe and has come out a lion.

What do you think? How do you right this wrong?

Chicago Criminal attorney comments on no preliminary hearings required for misdemeanor cases

2010-12-27T18:23:00.000-08:00

Wow! Imagine having criminal charges dismissed against you but having the state appeal and get the charges reinstated.

That is what happened to Justin Majors.

From People v. Justin J. Majors, No. 3-09-0691:

On appeal, the State contends that the trial court erred by dismissing the instant harassment by telephone charge at a preliminary hearing for lack of probable cause.

This court has previously recognized that probable cause must support a felony charge, but not a misdemeanor. People v. Davis, 397 Ill. App. 3d 1058, 923 N.E.2d 345 (2010). Specifically, in Davis, we reversed the trial court's dismissal of a misdemeanor traffic citation for lack of probable cause. In doing so, we noted that the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963 (Code) provided that those individuals charged with a felony offense "shall receive either a preliminary examination *** or an indictment by Grand Jury" within 60 days of their arrest date. 3 725 ILCS 5/109--3.1(b) (West 2008). In contrast, the Code contains no such preliminary hearing requirement "for misdemeanor charges because 'most misdemeanor cases are, as a matter of routine, speedily disposed of.' " Davis, 397 Ill. App. 3d at 1059, 923 N.E.2d at 346, quoting People v. Mitchell, 68 Ill. App. 3d 370, 374, 386 N.E.2d 153, 156 (1979).

You have to wonder, why would the state think it should require a preliminary hearing for a felony charge but not a misdemeanor? There are plenty of people awaiting trial, because they are unable to make bond, on misdemeanor charges. There are also a large number of people who have been sentenced to jail on a misdemeanor charge. It would seem that where freedom is at risk, every individual charged with a crime should be afforded the same opportunities for dismissal. How long it will be before some government folks start parading out the felony cases that are dismissed at preliminary hearings, while less serious charges, misdemeanors, don’t even have preliminary hearings where charges can be dismissed?

Chicago Criminal Attorney says even the judge can't promise you a decent sentence

2010-12-14T15:30:00.000-08:00

This Chicago Criminal attorney was going over a plea agreement with a client. The client was thoughtful and asked important questions. She’ll admit it, she wishes more defendants asked questions when considering pleading guilty, especially if the attorney is advising that a guilty plea doesn’t seem to be in the best interest of the client.

So what had the client concerned? Specifically, it was the understanding that although the prosecutor had made an offer the client wanted to accept, the judge could sentence my client to anything within the realm of the sentence range for the crime, including the maximum. I told my client that his understanding of the plea agreement was correct and the judge didn’t have to accept the agreement he wished to enter with the sentencing recommendation made by the prosecutor.

Unfortunately, even the judge can’t promise to give a defendant the minimum without hearing all of the mitigating (that’s the good things) and aggravation (those are the bad things) about the defendant.

From U.S. v. Gregory A. Glosser, No. 08-4015:

Although we recognize that the court’s references to the ten-year mandatory minimum stemmed from a desire to ensure the defendant understood the minimum time he faced (he had previously

been incorrectly informed that he faced a statutory minimum of five years), we agree with the government that the premature announcement of sentence constitutes procedural error that requires we vacate the sentence and remand for further proceedings.

The court explained that the applicable minimum sentence was ten years unless he cooperated and the government made a motion for a downward departure, and the court also made clear

that the government had not promised to make such a motion. The court further stated, “The only promise or prediction that I can make to you at this moment is there is nothing that would cause me, from what I’ve seen in this case and have heard of your background, nothing that would cause me to sentence you any more than what Congress mandates I must do, a minimum of ten.”

AUSA: Your Honor, if I may, I just want to be clear because I had heard you when you stated initially that your best guess would be that you would impose that minimum sentence based on the facts you have before you now. I just want to make it clear we haven’t taken a position as to what sentence—

Court: I fully intend that the government will stand up here and ask for more than ten years, but I haven’t heard anything in this case—and I’ve heard more about this case probably than any case I’ve ever had with all of the hours we spent in court, all of the facts presented, all of the filings. So I can’t imagine that there’s anything in this case that would surprise me, and that he even admitted a felony . . . that you didn’t tell me about. This is a case, as far as I’m concerned

from what I’ve seen, that Congress has got it at the maximum—at ten years to me is a stiff sentence, and the mandatory minimum ten years—I can’t imagine that I’ve promised him anything that I wouldn’t do. I fully expect you’ll ask for more, and I fully expect that I’ll find

a reason not to give it to you.

AUSA: Okay. I just want to make it clear that the Court isn’t foreclosing the government from presenting any evidence as we go forward to sentencing.

Court: Oh, no.

AUSA: Thank you.

Court: But, I mean, I haven’t seen a prior record that would justify more than ten. I haven’t seen anything about this that would require more than ten. And so I’m making that promise to [defense

counsel] and Mr. Glosser because I intend to carry it out and articulate many reasons why ten is, if anything, more than sufficient, more than reasonable, maybe even excessive; but that’s what

Congress says. Ten is it, and that is my promise. But you can present and make your record . . . . You will have that ample opportunity to present all of those facts to this Court so that if Mr. Glosser ultimately appeals his sentence, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals can say, “You’re right. Judge McCuskey made a mistake. Mr. Glosser’s wrong. The government’s right. He gets a

greater sentence than ten years.” That opportunity will be made. You’ll have a chance to make your record, and Mr. Glosser will have an opportunity to throw open the door to that cross appeal

on whatever record you make at sentencing. But I’ve made it clear where I’m at. Mr. Glosser, do you have any questions where I’m at?

Glosser: No, your Honor. You’ve made it very clear.

You already can guess what happened, can’t you? The government appealed and Judge McCuskey was overruled. Now Mr. Glosser will be resentenced by another judge.

Chicago Criminal attorney comments on the crime of drug paraphernalia-- no drugs required

2010-12-01T18:10:00.000-08:00

Years ago this Chicago Criminal attorney listened as a friend was disappointed and confounded by finding a bong in their teenager's closet. The friend felt he'd failed as a parent. No it doesn't matter that the teen knew his parents occasionally smoked weed.

Now, parents have a whole lot more to worry about if they find a bong in their kid's closet, or even wrapping papers in your kid's pocket.

From Illinois Senate Bill 1014:

converting, producing, processing, preparing, testing,
2 analyzing, packaging, repackaging, storing, containing,
3 concealing, injecting, ingesting, inhaling or otherwise
4 introducing into the human body cannabis or a controlled
5 substance in violation of the Cannabis Control Act, the
6 Illinois Controlled Substances Act, or the Methamphetamine
7 Control and Community Protection Act. It includes, but is not
8 limited to:
9 (1) kits intended to be used unlawfully in
10 manufacturing, compounding, converting, producing,
11 processing or preparing cannabis or a controlled
12 substance;
13 (2) isomerization devices intended to be used
14 unlawfully in increasing the potency of any species of
15 plant which is cannabis or a controlled substance;
16 (3) testing equipment intended to be used unlawfully in
17 a private home for identifying or in analyzing the
18 strength, effectiveness or purity of cannabis or
19 controlled substances;
20 (4) diluents and adulterants intended to be used
21 unlawfully for cutting cannabis or a controlled substance
22 by private persons;
23 (5) objects intended to be used unlawfully in
24 ingesting, inhaling, or otherwise introducing cannabis,
25 cocaine, hashish, or hashish oil into the human body
26 including, where applicable, the following items:

SB1014 Engrossed - 3 - LRB096 07090 RLC 17176 b

1 (A) water pipes;
2 (B) carburetion tubes and devices;
3 (B-1) individual tobacco wrappers, known as wraps,
4 blunt wraps, or roll your own cigar wraps, that are
5 made wholly or in part of tobacco, including
6 reconstituted tobacco or flavored tobacco, whether in
7 the form of a sheet or tube, if such wrappers are
8 designed to be sold or distributed to individuals;
9 (C) smoking and carburetion masks;
10 (D) miniature cocaine spoons and cocaine vials;
11 (E) carburetor pipes;
12 (F) electric pipes;
13 (G) air-driven pipes;
14 (H) chillums;
15 (I) bongs;
16 (J) ice pipes or chillers;
17 (6) any item whose purpose, as announced or described
18 by the seller, is for use in violation of this Act.
19 (Source: P.A. 93-526, eff. 8-12-03; 94-556, eff. 9-11-05.)

20 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
21 becoming law.

This is not the equivalent of a parking ticket. It is a Class A misdemeanor punished by a minimum fine of $750 (just for possessing these items) and up to a year in jail upon a conviction.

Chicago Criminal attorney comments on the narrowing of honest services-fraud

2010-11-22T19:45:00.000-08:00

This Chicago Criminal attorney has posted here and here about the crime of honest services fraud. It looks like the very charge that former governor Blagojevich wasn’t charged with is being used by former governor George Ryan to overturn his convictions.

From Chicago Breaking News:

Attorneys for George Ryan argued today that the disgraced former governor should be released from prison because the U.S. Supreme Court has redefined a key law behind his 2006 corruption conviction.

Ryan's attorneys contended that jurors would not have convicted Ryan under the new, narrower definition of honest-services fraud, one of the charges that led to a 6½-year sentence for the governor in the doling out of state contracts and leases to friends in return for gifts to him and his family.

Prosecutors argued that free vacations and other gifts Ryan got from state contractors or lobbyists meet the definition of bribes or kickbacks, and that the convictions would hold up under the new standard required to prove honest-services fraud. The new standard sharply limited the honest-services law to apply only in cases of bribery or kickbacks.

Pallmeyer said she intended to rule quickly on the motion but noted that her decision was likely to be appealed.

Media mogul Conrad Black was released from prison this year after an appeals court ruled that several of the honest-services counts against him don't measure up to the new standard and his sentence should be reconsidered in light of the Supreme Court ruling.

So do you think former Governor Ryan will be released?

Chicago Criminal Attorney knows that every day is Veterans Day

2010-11-10T19:14:00.000-08:00

This Chicago Criminal attorney posted here about the operation of Veterans Courts in Chicago. Tomorrow is Veterans Day.

From Neil Steinberg at the Chicago Sun Times:

We are a nation that just went through a mid-term election and barely talked about the two, count 'em, two wars we are currently fighting. We can hardly force ourselves to pause from fretting about the economy to pay attention to soldiers fighting and dying on our behalf every day, never mind those who fought in previous wars, particularly vets who get in trouble like Hall. That's what this court does; it gives vets not a legal break, but support they are entitled to.

The real work of Veterans Court does not take place when Circuit Court Judge John P. Kirby enters his courtroom and all rise; rather, the heavy lifting of helping these vets get back on track goes on an hour beforehand, at a pre-court meeting, in a room so crowded with staff -- I count 19 people -- there isn't room for them to sit around the table. Representatives from the states attorney, public defender and sheriff's offices are here, along with those from the U.S., Illinois and Chicago offices of veterans affairs, plus probation officers, drug counselors, homeless coordinators, legal clinics.

"Everybody was already up and running," says Kirby. "Every program here was in existence. We just put everybody in the same room and said, 'How can we work with veterans the best that we know how?' "

One by one, Kirby reads the names of the vets on today's court docket, and the caseworkers involved report regarding drug tests and program participation.

"Looks like he's been attending all his meetings . . ."

"He came back positive for cocaine . . ."

"We're just waiting for the results so we can fax them over."

Kirby occasionally asks pointed questions: "Have we reached a member of his family? There was one there, early on . . ."

To qualify for Veterans Court, an accused vet has to be charged with a crime the law doesn't require jail time for if convicted.

"We don't take violent crimes or sex crimes," says Kirby. "We are looking for people who commit probational offenses."

Afterward, the vets whose progress -- or lack of progress -- has been reviewed appear in court. Some are in custody, brought in wearing sand-colored DOC scrubs. Some are in street clothes -- untucked button-down shirts mostly. Some are appearing for the first time.

"I've been informed you are a veteran," Kirby tells a young woman.

"I was in Iraq," she says.

There’s no question that if you are a veteran, then every day is Veteran’s Day. Now what can we all do to make sure a veteran doesn’t ever need to be in Veterans Court?

Chicago Criminal attorney comments on the lack of young blood in the police force

2010-11-03T19:13:00.000-07:00

This Chicago Criminal attorney understands there is a search for Chicago’s Best Women and Men…at the Chicago Police Department. There’s only one hitch, they don’t want anyone remotely resembling a “21 Jump Street” actor.

November 3, Chicago, Il:

The Chicago Police Department is striking a compromise after running into opposition over a plan to raise its minimum application age to 25.

Instead of forcing aspiring police officers to wait until their 25th birthday to take the police entrance exam on Dec. 11, the revised policy allows them to take the test when they turn 21. But they still can’t enter the police academy until they’re 25.

That will allow people like Jason Quaglia, 23, to take the test. When he turns 25, he must wait for his name to be randomly drawn from the list of qualified applicants before he can enter the academy as a recruit.

Quaglia, who created a Facebook page called “The Chicago Police Minimum Age Will Destroy My Career,” said he was happy about the compromise announced Wednesday.

“Excellent,” Quaglia said. “I am glad they actually listened to us and heard our concerns. The most important part is to let us on the list because who knows when there is going to be another test.”

The Dec. 11 test will be the first one in four years. Non-military applicants must have completed 60 semester hours of college.

This matter is further complicated by a number of cadets, already in the Academy, who don’t make the age requirement. That part seems easy to me, just grandfather those youngsters that are already in the Academy.

Chicago Criminal attorney comments on how saving a life may not save you from the violation call

2010-10-27T20:58:00.000-07:00

In our household we have a criminal law code for being in trouble. We call it being on the violation call. The violation is a place no one ever wants to be. Still it happens.

Whenever someone pleads guilty or is found guilty of a crime there will be a sentence. A sentence is the court’s rendering of punishment. It could be meek, like a fine or some volunteer work. It could be harsh, like life imprisonment without parole. Usually, it falls somewhere in between the two poles.

If the offense is a low level infraction or perhaps the individual has no other criminal offenses, or they are elderly, or youthful, or frail, the sentence may include terms that the offender must follow. One of the most common sentencing terms is “no more crimes” can be charged against the offender in exchange for the court’s leniency in sentencing.

So what happens if a new crime is charged during the duration the sentence covers?

Yep. The offender ends up on the violation call. What’s so bad about the violation call? The offender can be sent to jail or prison when the prior sentence may have granted the individual their freedom.

Ending up on the violation call can happen to anyone.

From Rolling Stone:

T.I. was sentenced to 11 months in prison today after a judge revoked the rapper's probation following his arrest on drug charges in Los Angeles last month, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. T.I., who was released from prison just eight months ago, after serving nearly a year behind bars on federal weapons charges, was on three years' probation as part of his initial plea bargain. Two days ago, T.I. helped police in convincing a suicidal man not to jump from a 22-floor Atlanta building, but the rapper's rescue, and the police's gratitude toward T.I. for assisting in the situation (one of the officers reportedly spoke at today's hearing), apparently did not factor into the judge's decision. T.I. was given two weeks to turn himself into authorities.

Even having the police attribute your actions to preventing a suicide may not be enough to keep you free once you are on the violation call, so much for hero worship.

Chicago Criminal attorney comments on the trade of money for freedom

2010-10-20T19:39:00.000-07:00

This Chicago Criminal attorney just posted last week about getting the wrong guy. In that local case a cop, no less, was charged with brutal attacks and a murder.

Now, twenty-seven years later, a much-belated apology to an innocent.

October 20, Houston, TX:

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals unanimously decided on Wednesday that a man who spent 27 years in prison for a crime he did not commit is actually innocent.

"I almost feel like crying from the joy," said Michael Anthony Green. "It's great for the state to acknowledge something I tried to tell them from the get-go."

The 45-year-old said the decision from the state's highest court for criminal law is a weight lifted off his shoulders.

The ruling also clears the way for Green to work toward a settlement of more than $2 million from the state, his attorney, Bob Wicoff said.

Wicoff said he also expected to ask for an official pardon for Green.

Faulty eyewitness identification in 1983 sent Green to prison for 75 years for the rape of a Houston woman.

This man has been incarcerated for his entire adult life. Is there any amount of money that can actually compensate him for wrongfully losing his freedom?

What can we do, as a society, to insure that the wrong person doesn’t have to pay the ultimate price for a mistake?

Chicago Criminal attorney comments on getting the wrong guy

2010-10-14T06:20:00.000-07:00

This Chicago Criminal attorney was with her Mum-in-Law and we disagreed about a huge news story. The disagreement had nothing to do with her lovely son a/k/a my BFF. We disagreed about whether the police officer accused of a shooting spree was actually the right person.

Guess who was right?

From the front page of the Chicago Sun Times:

Lynwood cop cleared in shooting spree

STATE’S ATTORNEY APOLOGIZES | ‘It would have been physically impossible for Brian Dorian to have committed this crime’

Admitting they arrested the wrong man, Will County authorities abruptly announced late Tuesday they will drop the murder charge filed against Lynwood Police Officer Brian Dorian.

The stunning announcement came four days after a similarly stunning announcement from the same authorities — that a suburban cop was the man who randomly shot three people near the Illinois/Indiana border.

But evidence recovered from Dorian’s personal computer showed he was at his Crete Township home at the start of the Oct. 5 shooting spree that left a construction worker dead outside rural Beecher in Will County, officials said.

“It would have been physically impossible for Brian Dorian to have committed this crime,” Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow said during a hastily called news conference only hours after Dorian appeared in court.

He offered an apology to the veteran cop who had pleaded not guilty in the fatal shooting of Rolando Alonso, 45, a father of 10.

“This is a terribly tragic case,” Glasgow said. “I feel horrible that Brian Dorian went through this. And I certainly would apologize for any inconvenience he has suffered.

“But at the same time, he’s a police officer. And if he were in our shoes and he had a suspect under these circumstances, Brian Dorian would have acted the same way.”

An uninjured survivor of the shooting identified Dorian as the gunman in a photo lineup and then in a personal lineup, Glasgow said.

There is a criminal out there, let’s hope we can re-think the value of identifying an individual in a lineup when the witness was under a huge amount of stress and trauma in many of these cases.

Chicago Criminal attorney comments on missed deadlines

2010-10-05T19:18:00.000-07:00

This Chicago Criminal attorney has posted here and here about capital punishment. Well it looks like the drugs expired.

September 30, Los Angeles, CA:

California's effort to carry out its first execution in nearly five years collapsed Wednesday when the state Supreme Court ended a furious legal battle, giving a convicted rapist and murderer a reprieve that could last until at least next year.

The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation called off the execution hours after the Supreme Court refused to change long-established appeals deadlines to allow the execution of Albert Greenwood Brown Jr. to go forward.

California's effort to carry out its first execution in nearly five years collapsed Wednesday when the state Supreme Court ended a furious legal battle, giving a convicted rapist and murderer a reprieve that could last until at least next year.

The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation called off the execution hours after the Supreme Court refused to change long-established appeals deadlines to allow the execution of Albert Greenwood Brown Jr. to go forward.

U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel effectively halted executions in 2006 following concerns that lethal injections might have inflicted significant pain, violating the U.S. Constitution's guarantee against cruel and unusual punishment. On Tuesday, Fogel ruled that he needed time to examine whether the state had properly corrected its procedures.

The attorney general's office asked a federal appeals court Wednesday to reverse Fogel's order but conceded defeat after the California Supreme Court's decision.

The Supreme Court ruled that another inmate's challenge to the state resuming executions is not yet officially over. The state had asked the Supreme Court to finalize an appeal court's Sept. 20 ruling that cleared the way for executions to begin again if the inmate, Mitchell Sims, had not filed an appeal by 5 p.m. Thursday.

But the Supreme Court rejected that request, saying that Sims had the entire day to file his appeal. After that, the Supreme Court has another 30 days to decide on its own whether to review the appeal court's decision.

The attorney general's office "had everybody scrambling," said Laurie Levenson, a professor at Loyola Law School and a former prosecutor who has not taken a public position on the death penalty. "The Supreme Court is trying to put everything back in order, saying there are rules to be followed and there's no way in time for the execution date that you guys asked for."

Somehow, I doubt I’m the only one that finds it absurd that the government was dying to make the “deadline” (yep, pun intended)!

Chicago Criminal attorney thinks there will be a maelstrom around scrapping college requirements for Chicago Police

2010-09-29T20:34:00.000-07:00

This Chicago Criminal attorney isn’t surprised that there are jobs available in the city. It appears there will be openings for the Chicago Police Department.

A political and racial maelstrom could hit because an alderman has suggested scrapping the college requirement for police officers.

September 29, Chicago, Il:

The Daley administration agreed Tuesday to hold Chicago's first police entrance exam in four years to ease a severe manpower shortage -- amid demands that applicants no longer be required to complete at least two years of college.

Ald. Anthony Beale (9th), chairman of the City Council's Police Committee, wants to "level the playing field" for minorities to increase diversity in the ranks at a time when a two-year hiring slowdown has left the Chicago Police Department more than 2,300 officers-a-day short of authorized strength.

"A lot of minorities can't afford to go to college. A lot of minorities go into the trades or into the military. Why should they be excluded?" Beale said Tuesday.

"We need to level the playing field by doing away with the college part and coming up with a new formula. If a person is 24 or 25, they're at a maturity level where they can make solid decisions. Why not take that in place of college? The goal is get more minorities and streamline the process."

Who thinks there will be a lot of comments about minorities being lazy and stupid? Hold on, this is going to be a wild ride.

Chicago Criminal attorney is surprised that a drug expiration date could delay an execution

2010-09-28T20:27:00.000-07:00

This Chicago Criminal attorney has posted here, here, and here about the death penalty. She never thought she would see drug expiration as the reason given for not executing an individual.

September 28, San Francisco, CA:

With the clock ticking and uncertainties — both legal and pharmaceutical — hovering, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger ordered a temporary last-minute reprieve on Monday in what would be California’s first execution in more than four years.

The postponement came after a whirlwind day in which Mr. Brown’s fortunes seemed to rise and fall with each passing hour. Earlier Monday, Mr. Brown had been denied a stay from a state judge, Verna A. Adams, in Marin County, where San Quentin State Prison is located.

Shortly after that denial state officials also made a surprise announcement that the execution would be the last in the state until the one of the drugs proposed for his execution — sodium thiopental, a barbiturate — could be restocked by the state’s Department.

Moreover, Terry Thornton, a spokeswoman for the department, said its supply of sodium thiopental was good only until Friday. That expiration date is now just hours after Mr. Brown’s planned execution on Thursday.

Ms. Thornton said her department was continuing with preparations for Mr. Brown’s execution and had enough sodium thiopental to stop Mr. Brown’s heart. She added that the state was “actively seeking supplies of the drug for future executions.”

How exactly sodium thiopental became scarce is unclear. The Food and Drug Administration reported shortages in March, citing production issues with Hospira, an Illinois-based company that is the sole American manufacturer.

A company spokesman, Dan Rosenberg, said that the drug was unavailable because of a lack of supply of an active pharmaceutical ingredient and that Hospira was working to get the drug back on the market by early next year. But Mr. Rosenberg also expressed displeasure that the drug — meant to be used as an anesthetic — had found its way into death chambers.

“Hospira manufactures this product because it improves or saves lives, and the company markets it solely for use as indicated on the product labeling,” Mr. Rosenberg said in a statement. “The drug is not indicated for capital punishment, and Hospira does not support its use in this procedure.”

He added that the company had made that opinion clear to corrections departments nationwide.

Who knew Big Pharma had no desire to be a part of the government’s death panels!

Chicago Criminal attorney comments on the police knowing who you are

2010-09-27T13:55:00.000-07:00

This Chicago Criminal attorney had something peculiar happen. A couple of weeks ago one of the police officers was asking about her. Hmmm, that’s odd she thought to herself.

Today, she was in court and saw the officer who asked about her. She’d already alerted another attorney that he was in the building. That attorney was set for a trial with this particular officer.

The police officer said it was nice to see me back in court. It’s not like this Chicago Criminal attorney had been missing, but she finds it a bit odd that sometimes the police notice when they don’t see you.

Somewhere, there’s a lesson in this for clients and potential clients. You just never know who notices you and for what reason.

Chicago Criminal attorney thinks the country loses its moral authority on the death penalty

2010-09-23T19:39:00.000-07:00

This Chicago Criminal attorney has posted here and here about the death penalty. Unfortunately, the humanity of Virginians and Americans suffered a significant blow about an hour ago.

From the timesdispatch.com:

Teresa Lewis died by injection tonight at 9:13 p.m. for the Oct. 30, 2002, slayings of her husband and stepson in Pittsylvania County.

Lewis was sentenced to death for her role in the murder-for-hire slayings of Julian Lewis, 51, and his son, C.J. Lewis, 25, who were shot to death in their beds in her failed plot to gain $250,000 in life insurance.

Teresa Lewis was the secondary beneficiary of the policy: Both men had to die for her to collect the money.

She used sex and promises of money to entice Matthew Shallenberger, who was her lover, and Rodney Fuller to shoot the victims as she waited nearby in the kitchen of the family trailer.

Our country’s response does not give us the moral authority necessary to address how any other country chooses to use capital punishment. Yes, I do mean a certain death by stoning that was imminent in Iran.

Chicago Criminal attorney doesn't believe Chicago is the most corrupt city

2010-09-22T18:35:00.000-07:00

This Chicago Criminal attorney wonders how the local government thought it wouldn’t get caught with its hand in the cookie jar.

September 21, Los Angeles, CA:

Dressed in various shades of jail-issued clothing, eight current and former Bell city officials appeared in court Wednesday morning but did not enter pleas in a sweeping public-corruption case.

An attorney for former City Administrator Robert Rizzo disclosed that his client has been in a jail medical facility and that he has been unable to review the array of felony charges with his client. Rizzo is charged with 53 counts of misappropriation of public funds, falsification of documents and conflict of interest.

Two other defendants, Councilman Luis Artiga and former Councilman George Cole, are poised to post bail, their attorneys said. The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office said it was satisfied that both had met the requirement of proving their bail money is not coming from ill-gotten income.

The public-corruption case follows months of outrage and debate over public-employee compensation since The Times reported in July that Bell's leaders were among the nation's highest-paid municipal officials.

In filing the case, Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley described Rizzo as the "unelected and unaccountable czar" of Bell, accusing him of going to elaborate lengths to keep his salary secret.

Prosecutors allege that Rizzo gave himself huge pay raises without the City Council's approval.

"This was calculated greed and theft accomplished by deceit and secrecy," Cooley said.

Rizzo's compensation package was the most extreme example of the huge paychecks earned by elected leaders and city administrator, Cooley said. Rizzo had an annual salary and benefits totaling more than $1.5 million.

Prosecutors accused him of illegally writing his own employment contracts and steering nearly $1.9 million in unauthorized city loans to himself and others.

Still wonder who has the most corrupt city government?

Chicago Criminal attorney comments on crime stats, police protests, and puzzles

2010-09-16T18:44:00.000-07:00

This Chicago Criminal attorney has posted here and here about the decrease in crime. She’s also posted here about Chicago Police Officers staging protests.

Can you figure out what has her puzzled in this piece on the latest Chicago Police Officers' protest?

September 15, Chicago, Il:

Hundreds of officers marched in front of the Chicago police headquarters this morning, calling on Supt. Jody Weis to step down and carrying signs that read, "More police No Weis."

The march, which lasted about an hour, comes amid growing rancor between Weis and the union representing rank-and-file officers. Chief among the union's complaints is how manpower in Chicago's 25 police districts has suffered from officers being detailed to other assignments.

In the last several years, I've seen a big decline in morale and also a decline in manpower," he said. "And both of those things are directly related to the safety of the police officers on the street and the safety of the citizens of the neighborhood.

"The trend is moving more towards technology and away from the boots on the ground type strategy. We don't even have enough people to observe the technology that we're using."

Did you figure it out yet? Yep! If crime is down why are more police officers necessary? Like so many other industries, technology makes people more efficient and then you need fewer people to do the job, right?

Chicago Criminal attorney comments on Our Great Country's duty to protect the powerless

2010-09-14T19:54:00.000-07:00

This Chicago Criminal attorney was alarmed this afternoon. No, it wasn’t some righteous injustice at the trampling of the Constitution, it was a very sweet ten to fifteen pound apricot colored curly-haired pup. Yes, you already know there’s a soft spot in my heart for curly-haired pups. This sweetheart was running as if its life depended on it causing cars to brake at busy intersections as it bounded across Belmont at Lincoln today.

Making a swift U-turn, she tried to catch up to this pup running along the sidewalk but it had vanished. Frantically, she searched the street for an injured pup, but there wasn’t one to be found. She then took a path down a side street hoping to get into hearing range of the pup then just as she was about to give up, like a flash this curly-haired wonder was bounding across Greenwood (a much quieter street) and was now racing along the sidewalk on Belmont. There were ridiculous traffic signs that said “no turn on red”. Luckily, she had her blue-tooth headset on so she called 3-1-1. She reported this little wonder and told the operator not to bother with Animal Control, any decent human being on patrol could get this little wonder if you could just catch it before it got harmed or caused humans to get harmed braking for it.

So what’s the point? We live in a country where one of our strengths has been to take care of those who are less fortunate like the young, the frail, the less capable, and children. No a dog doesn’t isn’t a human being but in civilized societies one measure of humanity is how we treat our animals. So what do we do with the travesty inflicted on some of the least capable and youngest members of society? Those that need our protection to protect themselves from self-inflicted harms in the form of false confession. These are not cases of the accused being “not guilty”. These are cases where the accused is innocent.

From the nytimes.com:

Eddie Lowery lost 10 years of his life for a crime he did not commit. There was no physical evidence at his trial for rape, but one overwhelming factor put him away: he confessed.

DNA evidence would later show that another man committed the crime. But that vindication would come only years after Mr. Lowery had served his sentence and was paroled in 1991.

But more than 40 others have given confessions since 1976 that DNA evidence later showed were false, according to records by Brandon L. Garrett, a professor at the University School of Law. Experts have long known that some kinds of people — including the mentally impaired, the mentally ill, the young and the easily led — are the likeliest to be induced to confess. There are also people like Mr. Lowery, who says he was just pressed beyond endurance by persistent interrogators.

To defense lawyers, the new research is eye opening. “In the past, if somebody confessed, that was the end,” said Peter J. Neufeld, a founder of the Innocence Project, an organization based in Manhattan. “You couldn’t imagine going forward.”

The notion that such detailed confessions might be deemed voluntary because the defendants were not beaten or coerced suggests that courts should not simply look at whether confessions are voluntary, Mr. Neufeld said. “They should look at whether they are reliable.”

Professor Garrett said he was surprised by the complexity of the confessions he studied. “I expected, and think people intuitively think, that a false confession would look flimsy,” like someone saying simply, “I did it,” he said.

Instead, he said, “almost all of these confessions looked uncannily reliable,” rich in telling detail that almost inevitably had to come from the police. “I had known that in a couple of these cases, contamination could have occurred,” he said, using a term in police circles for introducing facts into the interrogation process. “I didn’t expect to see that almost all of them had been contaminated.”

Of the exonerated defendants in the Garrett study, 26 — more than half — were “mentally disabled,” under 18 at the time or both. Most were subjected to lengthy, high-pressure interrogations, and none had a lawyer present. Thirteen of them were taken to the crime scene.

It’s too bad the Supreme Court decided to weaken the accused’s rights to stay quiet until they have an attorney with them.

Chicago Criminal attorney comments on the change at the top in prison leadership

2010-09-08T14:31:00.000-07:00

This Chicago Criminal attorney has posted here, here, and here about early release and good time for inmates.

Still, there really is always a fall guy in politics isn’t there?

September 2, Springfield, Il:

Add another name to the list of key staffers to Gov. Quinn leaving state government under a cloud, even as the governor looks for ways to prop up his sagging poll numbers.

State prisons director Michael Randle, blamed for the botched early release last year of more than 1,700 prison inmates on Quinn’s orders, intends to resign his post effective Sept. 17 for an unspecified out-of-state job.

So are we prepared to pay the cost of keeping inmates imprisoned?

Chicago Criminal attorney comments on the oldest inmate

2010-09-01T12:03:00.000-07:00

This Chicago Criminal attorney has posted here and here about housing inmates. Still, it’s a sad day when Illinois makes history by incarcerating the oldest person to ever enter prison here.

August 31, Chicago, Il :

Convicted sex offender George Todd entered the Illinois prison system on Tuesday to begin serving seven years — which for him likely will be a life sentence.

Todd is 85, the oldest inmate ever to enter the state’s prison population, prison officials said.

Sentenced last month for molesting a 14-year-old girl, the Barrington area man must serve about five years behind bars before being eligible for release.

Todd is an extreme example of what is becoming increasingly common across Illinois and the country — prisons holding increasing numbers of aging inmates.

The number of men and women in state and federal prisons age 55 and older grew 76 percent between 1999 and 2008, rising from 43,300 to 76,400, according to the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics said. During the same time, the entire prison population grew only 18 percent.

In Illinois, the change was even more extreme.

The number of inmates at least 55 years old more than doubled — rising about 130 percent from 916 in 1999 to 2,113 in 2008, according to state statistics. The total prison population rose only about 2.6 percent during the same time, reaching 45,545 inmates in 2008.

Looks like there’s still space for Baby Boomers.

Chicago Criminal attorney knows you don't want to lose your student loans

2010-08-31T15:25:00.000-07:00

This Chicago Criminal attorney knows it is back-to-school season. There is the fervent preparation of high school students in order to put them in the best light for admission to their college of choice. There is also the ritual of checking a daughter or son in to their very first dorm room after successful admission to college.

You don’t want all of their hard work and effort to go down the drain because they don’t qualify for student loans do you?

From fafsa.org:

Student Aid Eligibility Worksheet

It is the law! You might not be able to receive federal student aid if you have been convicted of selling or possessing illegal drugs, if the drug offense for which you were convicted occurred while you were receiving federal student aid (grants, loans, and /or work study).

If you have been convicted in the past, this does not automatically mean that you are ineligible for federal student aid. This worksheet will help you determine your eligibility.

TIP: You should complete and submit your FAFSA even if you are not eligible for federal student aid. You may be eligible for financial aid from other sources.

There are two worksheets available.

Perhaps, this is far more compelling than the old “just say no to drugs” campaign.

Chicago criminal attorney comments on when the government decides not to prosecute--again

2010-08-26T13:27:00.000-07:00

This Chicago Criminal attorney isn’t surprised that all charges have been dropped against the brother of former governor Rod Blagojevich, Robert.

In the trial against Robert Blagojevich, he was co-defendant with his brother, the jurors also failed to come to an agreement. He was charged with four counts and the jury failed to convict or acquit on all four charges (hung jury). This seemed odd given the following:

August 18, Chicago, IL:

“I didn’t get my wish for him . . . to go home with his wife,” Grover said. “The whole time we spent on Rod, in the background we talked about Robert. And I had a feeling that nobody wanted to send him to jail. There really wasn’t a lot there.”

Grover said prosecutors shouldn’t put Robert Blagojevich through another trial.

“My personal opinion, I wouldn’t [retry Robert]. I don’t see the stuff that I saw on his brother. Robert was never really in the picture. . . . I think he was honestly trying to do a good job.”

Nine jurors voted in favor of acquittal on the four counts involving Robert Blagojevich and three voted to convict, Grover said.

“I’m further resolved to hear it was a 9 to 3 result in my favor,” Robert Blagojevich said today. “I’m an innocent man. I’ve done nothing wrong. The majority of the jury thought that was the case.”

Still, it took the prosecutors to decide that they wouldn’t retry him.

Chicago Criminal attorney comments on the 1st Amendment and the police

2010-08-25T19:07:00.000-07:00

This Chicago Criminal attorney is surprised that a Chicago Police Officer would say publicly, what she’s heard several police officers say to her about the job, the mayor, and the superintendent.

August 25, Chicago, IL:

Chicago police Lt. John Andrews knew that he was nudging a hornet's nest when he posted an essay on his personal blog criticizing the Police Department as beleaguered by a manpower shortage, low morale and public perceptions of rising crime.

Last week, he finally got stung.

The 25-year police veteran, who works as a watch commander at the West Side Harrison District, was notified that he was being investigated by the Internal Affairs Division for bringing "discredit" to the department for comments in his 3,072-word essay, decrying everything from internal cronyism and public apathy to emboldened criminals and pay disparities.

Andrews said he was just exercising free speech when he told the public about the problems police officers face. He said he felt compelled to comment publicly after the slaying of Officer Michael Bailey, the third officer killed within two months, to discuss the problems officers face every day.

"I just was doing a lot of soul-searching and I said, 'Something needs to be said,'" Andrews said.

His essay takes aim at what he calls worsening violence both toward the public and officers, indifferent police and political leadership, and a loss of passion by officers.

The charge against Andrews points to a comment he made regarding recently promoted Cmdr. Anthony Carothers. Carothers' brother Isaac is a former alderman who was sentenced to 28 months in federal prison this summer on bribery and tax charges.

Andrews referred to Carothers' promotion as a "recent example of alleged political corruption ties to top tier leadership." He said his promotion less than a month after his influential brother's sentencing gave the appearance of impropriety.

It can be difficult to realize that doing what you think is right can lead to an unwanted backlash.

Chicago Criminal attorney comments on prosecutorial mistakes v. prosecutorial misconduct

2010-08-24T16:32:00.000-07:00

This Chicago Criminal attorney is surprised that prosecutors are in need of protection.

No, not from the wrath of a deranged criminal defendant who would do them physical harm, but from the concept that when they make a mistake it may very well be labeled prosecutorial misconduct.

From abanow.org:

Prosecutorial Error / Misconduct Distinction

ADOPTED AS REVISED

RESOLVED, That the American Bar Association urges trial and appellate courts, in criminal cases, when reviewing the conduct of prosecutors to differentiate between “error” and “prosecutorial misconduct.”

Do you really believe there have been findings of prosecutorial misconduct that were actually mistakes?

Chicago Criminal attorney comments on the government getting you to agree to being spied on

2010-08-18T19:25:00.000-07:00

This Chicago Criminal attorney has posted here, here, and here about Big Brother watching you. Do you want Big Brother to watch you if it means maybe it can stop crime?

August 9, Chicago, IL:

The Chicago Police Department is working with the Illinois Institute of Technology and the Rand Corp. on an innovative project that will help pinpoint hot spots of criminal activity.

The process -- called predictive analytics -- is to analyze every violent incident and gang interaction with police to extrapolate and identify future problems. The numbers will be analyzed by experts at ITT.

"This is a paradigm shift in how the department uses information," said Chicago Police Supt. Jody Weis. "It will make for smarter policing."

Weis explained how the information pinpoints the time of day and location of violent crimes. In the past, gang data were compiled on a yearly basis, Weis said.

Now any police interaction with a gang member will be fed into the system for a "real time, ongoing" account of where gangs operate.

You don’t earnestly believe this tool will be limited to gang members do you?

Chicago Criminal attorney comments on a former governor, mistrial, and double jeopardy

2010-08-17T15:14:00.000-07:00

This Chicago Criminal attorney knows that there are a lot of questions about what happens now to former Governor Rod Blagojevich.

In Illinois, and whenever there is a jury, a decision of guilt on any count requires a unanimous decision. This means that the majority doesn’t matter. So long as one juror doesn’t agree then there cannot be a conviction entered. In this case, the jury could only reach a decision of guilty on one of the twenty-four counts against the former Governor.

August 17, Chicago, Il:

The jury is finally in on Rod Blagojevich — and the verdict is decidedly undecided. A federal jury of six men and six women just returned a split verdict against the former governor, convicting him on only one of the 24 criminal corruption counts he faced. The governor was found guilty of giving a false statement to federal agents. In a courthouse where prosecutors win more than 90 percent of the time and after listening to a treasure trove of secretly recorded conversations, the jury couldn’t reach a unanimous decision on the other 23 counts.

Judge James Zagel said he intends to declare a mistrial on the undecided counts. Federal prosecutor Reid Schar told the judge it is "absolutely our intention to retry this'' until there is a conclusion. They immediately starting talking about a future trial date.

A mistrial occurs, as in this instance, when a jury can’t reach a conclusion to verdict on a count.

How does this differ from Double Jeopardy? Double jeopardy applies when a final judgment has been reached. For example, if the jury had decided that Blagojevich was not guilty, then the government could not retry him, as they have already indicated they intend to do. In this case, Double Jeopardy is inapplicable.

Chicago Criminal attorney believes it's time to ask more questions about confessions

2010-08-14T20:05:00.000-07:00

This Chicago Criminal attorney has posted here about false confessions. Sure the police are under a lot of pressure to close a case, but it is time we look at all of the facts surrounding a confession including the length of time the accused is in custody before making it.

August 14, Ashikaga, Japan:

ON a December morning in 1991, Toshikazu Sugaya’s quiet, anonymous existence in this sleepy city north of Tokyo ended abruptly with a knock on his door.

It was the police. They wanted to question Mr. Sugaya, then a 45-year-old divorced school bus driver with no friends, in connection with the grisly murder in 1990 of a 4-year-old girl. After 13 hours of interrogation, during which Mr. Sugaya says the police kicked his shins and shouted at him, he tearfully admitted to that murder and to killing two other girls. He was convicted of one murder and sentenced to life in prison.

But last year, after prosecutors admitted that his confession was a fabrication made under duress and that a DNA test used as evidence had been wrong, Mr. Sugaya was released. A court later acquitted him.

Unfortunately, we can’t say that would never happen here.

Chicago Criminal attorney comments on the "terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day" in the air

2010-08-13T19:15:00.000-07:00

This Chicago Criminal attorney knows sometimes we have a rough day and want to respond to it, especially in this economically harsh environment. It’s true. People are “Mad as hell and aren’t going to take it anymore.”

Still perhaps counting to ten or twenty or even one hundred before responding is a better way to make sure we keep our jobs and avoid criminal charges.

August 9, New York, NY:

It has been a long time since flight attendant was a glamorous job title. The hours are long. Passengers with feelings of entitlement bump up against new no-frills policies. Babies scream. Security precautions grate but must be enforced. Airlines demand lightning-quick turnarounds, so attendants herd passengers and collect trash with the grim speed of an Indy pit crew. Everyone, it seems, is in a bad mood.

After a dispute with a passenger who stood to fetch luggage too soon on a full flight just in from Pittsburgh, Mr. Slater, 38 and a career flight attendant, got on the public-address intercom and let loose a string of invective.

Then, the authorities said, he pulled the lever that activates the emergency-evacuation chute and slid down, making a dramatic exit not only from the plane but, one imagines, also from his airline career.

On his way out the door, he paused to grab a beer from the beverage cart. Then he ran to the employee parking lot and drove off, the authorities said.

He was arrested at his home in Belle Harbor, Queens, a few miles from the airport, and charged with felony counts of criminal mischief and reckless endangerment.

Somehow the felony counts seem a bit much, but you can watch and judge for yourself.

Chicago Criminal attorney comments on the new Sex Offender Registration Law

2010-08-09T19:54:00.000-07:00

Chicago criminal defense attorney believes there will be an awful lot of unknowing violators based on the change in law for Sex Offender Registration.

From SB3084:

Amends the Sex Offender Registration Act. Provides that a person is required to register as a sex offender who was not previously required to register before the effective date of this amendatory Act because the sex offense that the person committed occurred before a specified date. Requires that person to register within 5 days after the effective date of this amendatory Act. Provides that if the person is confined, institutionalized, or imprisoned in Illinois on or after the effective date of this amendatory Act, he or she shall register in person with the local law enforcement agency within 5 days of discharge, parole, or release. Provides for the duration of the registration. Effective immediately.

This is going to be a disaster for defendants and the court system. Can you imagine finding the sex offender, who didn't have to register, to notify them that now they have to register?

Chicago Criminal attorney comments on the First Amendment and unkind words

2010-08-07T10:28:00.000-07:00

Chicago Criminal attorney has posted here about the First Amendment and criminal or quasi-criminal charges.

Even understanding that, she thinks this latest case is a bit of a stretch.

From chicagobreakingnews.com:

The difference between a joke in poor taste and an inflammatory remark is about 75 bucks.

Arjunsinh Sindha, 64, said he feels as if he was treated unfairly when he was fined $75 after he was found guilty of disorderly conduct for asking a Pakistani-born customer if he was a terrorist.

"I don't think it was a fair deal," said Sindha, who manages the Subway Sandwich shop at 2302 Green Bay Road in North Chicago. "We all talk when something happens. We just kid around."

Sindha made the questionable comment on May 5, just days after a terrorist unsuccessfully tried to explode a bomb in Times Square in New York City.

Zohaib Khan, 29, said that Sindha casually approached him and said, "I heard you guys were recruiting more terrorists in New York. Are you one of them?"

"I was very surprised and shocked that people reacted this way," said Khan, who moved to Waukeganfrom Pakistan with his family when he was 14. "It was very upsetting and I was very offended."

Khan reported Sindha's comment to North Chicago officials and Sindha was issued a ticket under a city ordinance for disorderly conduct.

On Thursday he was found guilty of disorderly conduct and fined $75 by a Lake County judge. NorthChicago and Lake County officials could not be reached for comment.

What’s the difference between this offense and the one involving the woman in the grocery store here? Not only were the words said to her unpleasant (which isn’t illegal) but she had her head scarf was pulled. That’s no different than trying to snatch a watch, necklace, earring, shirt, or purse off a person.

Chicago Criminal attorney comments on the impact of the recession on criminal laws

2010-08-05T19:39:00.000-07:00

This Chicago Criminal attorney is somewhat surprised by the compassion shown by our state legislators.

From PA-96-1301:

Replaces everything after the enacting clause. Amends the Criminal Code of 1961. Increases the threshold amount in which higher penalties are imposed for theft from exceeding $300 to exceeding $500. Increases the threshold amount in which higher penalties are imposed for retail theft and theft by emergency exit and for previous convictions of any type of theft, robbery, armed robbery, burglary, residential burglary, possession of burglary tools or home invasion from a full retail value exceeding $150 to a full retail value exceeding $300.

Perhaps they realized that a floor of $300 wouldn’t do much more than overwhelm the court system and perhaps create even greater tragedies.

Chicago Criminal attorney comments on confessions, justice delayed, and DNA

2010-08-04T19:28:00.000-07:00

This Chicago Criminal attorney thinks it is finally time to give a second look, okay a third look, at so-called admissions/ confessions by those accused of crime.

Ripped from the headlines:

After five years in jail on allegations that he murdered his 8-year-old daughter and her friend in Zion, Jerry Hobbs has been released from custody.

Prosecutors filed a motion to drop the charges against Hobbs at a hearing before Lake County Judge Fred Foreman Wednesday morning. The hearing lasted all of about one minute.

Upon being released, Hobbs quietly left the Lake County Jail while reporters were inside the courthouse, attending a news conference by county State's Attorney Michael Waller.

Even though Hobbs was released, Waller says he and police have nothing to apologize for.

"I don't, and we don't in the Lake County State's Attorney's Office, prosecute defendants unless we think that we can prove them guilty beyond a reasonable doubt," said State's Attorney Waller. "Based on this new evidence, we didn't think we could prove him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt."

Hobbs confessed to the murder of his daughter, Laura, 8, and her friend, Krystal Tobias, in a park near their Zion home in 2005. He has been sitting in jail awaiting trial ever since.

Have you ever wondered, even if you don’t watch Law and Order, how the police are able to get people to testify to things that they didn’t do?

Chicago Criminal lawyer comments on the perception of a rise in crime

2010-08-03T19:31:00.000-07:00

This Chicago Criminal lawyer has posted here, here, and here about crime being down.

It sort of looks like the Mayor is throwing his Police Superintendent “under the bus” when it comes to explaining lower numbers but more shocking crimes.

From chicagobreakingnews.com:

Murders have dropped sharply the past two decades, yet fear of crime remains high amid the daily violence in Chicago. At a Tuesday news conference, Daley put police Superintendent Jody Weis on the spot when asked about the disconnect.

"Ask him," said Daley, who then stepped away from the microphone.

Weis dutifully took his place at the lectern, the fourth day in a row he has stood before reporters as the Daley administration tries to quell public concern in the wake of three separate slayings of police officers. A Chicago Tribune/WGN poll last month showed nearly half of respondents living in the city think crime is getting worse and nearly 7 in 10 said crime is hurting the quality of life.

Weis reiterated his view that news coverage makes people think there's more crime than there actually is. "I would never stand here and say the violence we're suffering in Chicago is acceptable. It's not," Weis said. "But I do think it's important to frame things."

The remarks illustrate Daley's difficulty in dealing with the crime issue ahead of the February city elections in which he could seek a record seventh term. Daley is trying to knock down fear of crime while simultaneously acknowledging that violence is the "most immediate and pressing challenge" facing the city.

Folks, there is no question that constant and rapid-fire news stories does create the perception in the minds of many that the City is under siege, that said citizens shouldn’t expect the government to prevent crime, that belongs to us. No, I do not mean vigilantism. I mean prevention. That is a far more systemic approach to decreasing crime and creating a safer City for all of us.

Have you ever wondered if there is a correlation between levels of literacy in society and crime?

Chicago Criminal attorney comments on paying today for evidence to be used against you...in the future

2010-08-02T16:00:00.000-07:00

This Chicago Criminal attorney has posted here and here about DNA evidence.

She admits to thinking it’s a bit rich for the government to charge the defendant for the evidence they used against the defendant. Right now, that’s okay in Illinois according to People of the State of Illinois v. Earle Lee Marshall, No. 3—08—025.

From People v. Marshall:

Section 5--4--3 of the Unified Code (730 ILCS 5/5--4--3 (West 2008)) states that any person convicted of a qualifying offense is required to submit specimens of blood, saliva, or tissue to the Illinois State Police and "in addition to any other disposition, penalty, or fine imposed, shall pay an analysis fee of $200." 730 ILCS 5/5--4--3(j) (West 2008). Defendant does not dispute that first degree murder is a qualifying offense as contemplated by section 5--4--3 of the Unified Code. 730 ILCS 5/5--4--3(a)(1)(West 2008). Moreover, defendant acknowledges that subsection (j) uses mandatory language in noting that a defendant "shall" pay the fee. Defendant notes that in "light of these statutory requirements, it is understandable that the circuit court would think to order Marshall to submit a DNA specimen and pay the $200 analysis fee."

Nevertheless, defendant submits the court was without authority to order the fee, as doing so after defendant's DNA was already on file is outside the intent of the statute and would "serve no purpose." We disagree.

The legislature chose the phrase "shall pay an analysis fee of $200" without consideration as to whether or not an offender's DNA was already on file. 730 ILCS 5/5--4--3(j)(West 2008). Considering this language and the fact that the legislature put in place a process to expunge DNA from the database, we cannot agree with defendant's reading of the statute that a court lacks the authority to order a defendant to give DNA and pay the $200 analysis fee more than once.

So you do pay for the submission of evidence to be used against you by the government. Does that strike you as something to be proud of as an American?

Chicago Criminal attorney comments on your electronic leash

2010-08-01T15:53:00.000-07:00

This Chicago Criminal attorney has posted here and here about Big Brother watching your every move.

Now most of you aren’t doing anything wrong, but you have willingly decided to let Big Brother watch you. It’s your trendy smartphone. Especially if it is an iphone.

August 1, Chicago, Il

Detective Josh Fazio of the Will County Sheriff's Department loves it when an iPhone turns up as evidence in a criminal case.

The sophisticated cell phone and mobile computer is becoming as popular with police as it is with consumers because it can provide investigators with so much information that can help in solving crimes.

The iPhones generally store more data than other high-end phones -- and investigators such as Fazio frequently can tap in to that information for evidence.

And while some phone users routinely delete information from their devices, that step is seldom as final as it seems.

"When you hit the delete button, it's never really deleted," Fazio said.

The devices can help police learn where you've been, what you were doing there and whether you've got something to hide.

Former hacker Jonathan Zdziarski, author of iPhone Forensics (O'Reilly Media) for law enforcement, said the devices "are people's companions today. They organize people's lives."

And if you're doing something criminal, something about it is probably going to go through that phone:

• Every time an iPhone user closes out of the built-in mapping application, the phone snaps a screenshot and stores it. Savvy law-enforcement agents armed with search warrants can use those snapshots to see if a suspect is lying about whereabouts during a crime.

• iPhone photos are embedded with GEO tags and identifying information, meaning that photos posted online might not only include GPS coordinates of where the picture was taken, but also the serial number of the phone that took it.

• Even more information is stored by the applications themselves, including the user's browser history. That data is meant in part to direct custom-tailored advertisements to the user, but experts said some of it could be useful to police.

In Kane County, the sheriff's department used GPS information from one of the phones to help reunite a worried father with his runaway daughter, who was staying at a friend's house.

"His daughter felt comfortable at the house because she did not think her parents knew where she was, and she actually answered the door. She was a bit surprised as to the fact that [her] dad found her," said Lt. Pat Gengler, a spokesman for the sheriff's department.

Well, for all of you who have wondered about social media letting folks know where you are and what you are doing, at least that gives the individual an opportunity to share what he wants to share. The GEO tags and GPS available in many smartphones means you never have to say a word.

Chicago criminal attorney comments on the auditors' noting the decrease in arrests

2010-07-30T18:50:00.000-07:00

This Chicago Criminal attorney has posted here, here, and here about the decrease in crime in the city.

She could have saved the Chicago taxpayer a considerable sum that we paid to Deloitte & Touche to tell us that arrests are down.

July 29, Chicago, IL:

Mayor Daley closed the books on 2009 with just $2.7 million in the bank, having added $461 million to the mountain of debt piled on Chicago taxpayers, year-end audits show.

As low as the unreserved cash balance is, it’s more than ten-times higher than the $200,000 the city had left after 2008.

Performed by the accounting firm of Deloitte & Touche, the audits provide a treasure-trove of information about city finances and operations.

They reveal everything from a steady decline in police arrests, O’Hare Airport passengers and refuse collections to an increase in passenger boardings at economy-minded Midway Airport.

The audits also include some troubling numbers that have nothing to do with city finances.

The number of “physical arrests” by Chicago Police continued their steady decline — from 227,576 in 2006 and 196,621 in 2008 to 181,254 last year.

The downward trend coincides with a hiring slowdown that has left the Police Department more than 2,000 officers-a-day below authorized strength. It also coincides with allegations of “de-policing,” a condition that exists when police officers “stop doing their jobs” because they're afraid nobody has their back.

Police Department spokesman Roderick Drew said the department “doesn’t measure the success of crime-fighting strategies simply by the number of arrests.” He argued that the “true measure” is the reduction in reported crime that Chicago has experienced over the past decade.

“In fact we have experienced 18 consecutive months of lower overall crime in Chicago dating back to January 2009,” he said.

Earlier today this Chicago Criminal attorney spoke to some of Chicago’s finest about “de-policing. Interesting choice of words don't you think?

Chicago Criminal attorney comments on the inequities in drug sentencing

2010-07-29T19:49:00.000-07:00

This Chicago Criminal attorney has posted here and here about sentencing.

Finally, after more than twenty years of getting it wrong, Congress has moved to decrease the disparity in sentencing for those found guilty of possessing cocaine.

July 29, Washington, D.C.:

Congress on Wednesday changed a 25-year-old law that has subjected tens of thousands of African Americans to long prison terms for crack cocaine convictions while giving far more lenient treatment to those, mainly whites, caught with the powder form of the drug.

The House, by voice vote, approved a bill reducing the disparities between mandatory crack and powder cocaine sentences, sending the measure to President Obama for his signature. During his presidential campaign, Obama said that the wide gap in sentencing "cannot be justified and should be eliminated." The Senate passed the bill in March.

The measure changes a 1986 law, enacted at a time when crack cocaine use was rampant and considered a particularly violent drug. Under the law, a person convicted of crack cocaine possession got the same mandatory prison term as someone with 100 times the same amount of powder cocaine. The new legislation reduces that ratio to about 18 to 1.

The bill also eliminates the five-year mandatory minimum for first-time possession of crack, the first time since the Nixon administration that Congress has repealed a mandatory minimum sentence. It does not apply retroactively.

Can you believe this bill had bipartisan support? Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois and Senator Jeff Session of Alabama co-sponsored the bill.

Chicago Criminal attorney comments on how a misdemeanor, without jail, can get you deported

2010-07-25T17:16:00.000-07:00

This Chicago Criminal attorney has posted here and here about the special issues facing defendants who are also immigrants, whether they are documented or not.

While immigration is a hot-button issue many don’t believe that those who came over, as undocumented children, should be deported.

July 20, New York, New York:

Vincenzo Donnoli was 9 when his family immigrated legally to Brooklyn. He attended Erasmus Hall High School, married and divorced in Flatbush, ran a landscaping business and had five children. But at 51 he is back — alone and jobless — in Pomarico, the hill town in southern Italy where his father was a shepherd, as a deportee banned for life from returning to the United States.

His offense: two misdemeanor convictions for possessing small amounts of cocaine, in 1988 and 2006, both guilty pleas resolved without jail time. Retroactively, immigration authorities added them up to equal an “aggravated felony” that required Mr. Donnoli’s automatic deportation last year.

That kind of arithmetic, an aggressive government interpretation of 1996 immigration laws that has been increasingly invoked in recent years, was rejected by the Supreme in a unanimous decision in June. But the ruling came too late for Mr. Donnoli and thousands of deportees like him, all former lawful residents who have no way to turn that legal vindication into a chance to come home.

“The Supreme Court has said in a series of cases that the government’s theories of deportation have been wrong for years,” said Daniel Kanstroom, a professor at Boston College Law School, citing earlier decisions that rejected the government’s classification of other minor crimes as deportable offenses. “And yet the legal system has not developed a mechanism to right that wrong for the thousands of people who have been wrongly deported.”

From Carachuri-Rosendo v. Holder, No. 09-60:

Petitioner Jose Angel Carachuri-Rosendo, a lawful permanent resident who has lived in the United States since he was five years old, faced deportation under federal law after he committed two misdemeanor drug possession offenses in Texas. For the first, possession of less than two ounces of marijuana, he received 20 days in jail. For the second, possession without a prescription of one tablet of a common antianxiety medication, he received 10days in jail. After this second offense, the Federal Government initiated removal proceedings against him. He conceded that he was removable, but claimed he was eligible for discretionary relief from removal under 8 U. S. C. §1229b(a).

To decide whether Carachuri-Rosendo is eligible to seek cancellation of removal or waiver of inadmissibility under §1229b(a), we must decide whether he has been convicted of an “aggravated felony,” §1229b(a)(3), a category of crimes singled out for the harshest deportation consequences. The Court of Appeals held that a simple drug possession offense, committed after the conviction for a first possession offense became final, is always an aggravated felony. We now reverse and hold that second or subsequent simple possession offenses are not aggravated felonies under §1101(a)(43) when, as in this case, the state conviction is not based on the fact of a prior conviction.

In Illinois, admonishments are required whenever there is a plea of guilt or a finding of guilt even when no jail or conviction is entered against the defendant, because in immigration matters, at least prior to the U.S. Supreme Court’s latest opinion a felony for immigration court purposes may very well not be a felony in state court.

Chicago Criminal attorney comments on the burden of proof belonging to the government, not the accused

2010-07-21T21:46:00.000-07:00

This Chicago Criminal attorney wants to remind you that the Government has the burden of proving beyond a reasonable doubt that you are guilty, if they decide to charge you with a crime.

In fact the judge, whenever there is a jury trial, actually reminds the jury from start-to-finish of a trial, that they are not to interpret guilt or non-guilt based on the defendant’s decision not to testify because the defendant is not required to do so.

July 20, Chicago, Il:

Legal analysts here (some of whom chuckled at those who had ever believed Mr. Blagojevich’s promises to take the stand in the first place) said they now anticipated silence from Mr. Blagojevich and a swift end to a case that was once expected to last all summer.

Like all criminal defendants, Mr. Blagojevich is not required to testify. Unlike most defendants, he had seemed to leave no room for doubt. In opening statements, the defense team told jurors Mr. Blagojevich would take the stand and “tell you exactly what was going on.” And just last week, outside court, Mr. Blagojevich pledged once more: “I will prove my innocence, and I will testify.”

While you may be on the defense if you are accused of a crime, that doesn’t mean you have to do anything besides let the government put on its witnesses. It is the government’s burden of proof, not the accused.

Chicago Criminal attorney comments on a defendant receiving bond while awaiting appeal

2010-07-19T20:49:00.000-07:00

Whoa! The United States Supreme Court’s recent ruling may not have changed the government’s strategy in its case against former governor Rod Blagojevich but it has created a tsunami in a big government win that has now been jeopardized against the former owner of the Chicago Sun Times, Conrad Black.

From Chicagobreakingnews.com:

Conrad Black won his request for bail Monday while a federal appeals court reviews whether to overturn his 2007 fraud conviction related to his one-time control of Hollinger International Inc., the former parent of the Chicago Sun-Times.

It is not clear when Black will be released from prison. He has been in federal custody in Florida for more than two years, serving a 78-month sentence for three counts of fraud and one count of obstruction of justice.

The federal appeals court in Chicago said U.S. District Court Judge Amy St. Eve will have to set the terms of Black’s bail. St. Eve presided over Black’s trial in Chicago.

The appellate court granted bail after the U.S. Supreme Court last month found errors in the instructions given to the jury during Black’s trial. Black had challenged his conviction on the validity of the jury instructions that were based “honest-services” fraud.

From Black v. United States, 561 U.S. ______(2010):

We decided in Skilling that §1346, properly confined,criminalizes only schemes to defraud that involve bribes or kickbacks. See ante, p. __. That holding renders thehonest-services instructions given in this case incorrect

The Supreme Court said that honest-services fraud was so vague that it was impossible for a person to even realize they were committing a crime. On the other hand it could be a nod to the realization that numerous corporate entities would find themselves prosecuted.

Chicago Criminal attorney comments on not getting your day in court

2010-07-17T17:36:00.000-07:00

This Chicago Criminal attorney isn't surprised by the recent ruling in the Drew Peterson case. She’s worried about the state of the Constitution. How many blows can it take before it’s on the rings?

In this case the prosecution’s case against a very, very unpopular suspect is weak. The ability to tie Drew Peterson to the murder of his wife Stacy Peterson ( he’s a suspect) and his former wife Kathleen Savio has been difficult. The case was so weak that new legislation that would eviscerate the Constitution became law. It would permit all types of hearsay that previously would not be permitted. Everyone knew the legislation was about the Drew Peterson case and not surprisingly, the law was called Drew’s Law.

It looks like doing an end run around our Constitution has backfired for the government:

July 11, Chicago, Il:

Saddled with a botched police investigation, Will County State's Attorney James Glasgow pushed for a state law that would allow prosecutors to use hearsay statements against Drew Peterson at trial.

Dubbed Drew's Law by legal experts and legislators, Glasgow hailed the bill's passage as a way of letting Peterson's third and fourth wives speak from the grave.

But now in an ironic move to convict Peterson, Glasgow finds himself fighting the law he helped create.

On the eve of Peterson's much-anticipated murder trial, Glasgow delayed the case Thursday by appealing a ruling on the admissibility of some hearsay evidence. He argues that the judge's decision — made under the guidelines established by Drew's Law — should have adhered instead to less-restrictive common law.

"Is he arguing with a forked tongue?" asked defense attorney Terry Sullivan, who also prosecuted John Wayne Gacy. "I would say yes. But he has to argue what falls in his lap. He's doing the right thing."

Glasgow's involvement in the case began shortly after Peterson's fourth wife, Stacy, disappeared in October 2007. The police officer's third wife, Kathleen Savio, had apparently drowned in a bathtub in 2004, and a quick review of her then-closed case showed signs of a mishandled investigation.

Police collected no evidence from the death scene. They didn't look into Savio's repeated claims of domestic abuse. And they interviewed Stacy Peterson — who provided her husband's alibi — with him sitting beside her.

Glasgow ordered Savio's body exhumed in November 2007, and her death later was reclassified as a homicide. Within a year, the state legislature passed a law expanding the forms of admissible hearsay at trial.

At the time, Glasgow maintained that the new statute simply codified common law and provided a helpful road map on how to determine the admissibility of secondhand testimony. The new statute requires judges to consider two things: whether the statement is reliable and whether the bulk of the evidence shows that the defendant made the witness unavailable to testify.

To no one's surprise, the law's first big test came from Peterson's murder case. Peterson, now 56, was arrested in May 2009 and charged with killing Savio amid a contentious property settlement. He has not been charged in Stacy's disappearance, though he remains a suspect.

He denies wrongdoing in both cases.

After a landmark hearsay hearing this year, Judge Stephen White sided with prosecutors in finding that the preponderance of evidence suggested Peterson killed Savio and caused Stacy's disappearance. The "preponderance" standard does not imply that Peterson would be found guilty at trial because the burden of proof is lower than the beyond-reasonable-doubt standard imposed on juries.

Right now, the matter is going up on appeal. The problem is the appeal could take a very long time and during that time Mr. Peterson, the accused must sit. The judge has not set any bond that would permit him to be released. Quite simply, he must sit in jail, with an inability to go to trial, while the government winds its way through the appeals process.

Not a good day for justice in the United States when the government can decide to have you held without the ability for you to go to trial. That’s the scary part. It has nothing do with whether you think Peterson is guilty of murder or a despicable human being, in this country the accused gets to have his day in court and right now Peterson can’t have that.

Chicago Criminal attorney comments on the exceptions to the 2nd Amendment

2010-07-14T20:03:00.000-07:00

This Chicago Criminal attorney has posted here, here, and here about the 2^nd Amendment. It appears the 7^th Circuit Court of Appeals has decided that not all individuals are permitted to have guns. Hold on, this is going to be a rough ride.

From United States of America v. Steven Skoien, No. 08-3770:

A person to whom a statute properly applies can’t obtain relief based on arguments that a differently situated person might present. See United States v. Salerno, 481 U.S. 739, 745 (1987). Although the Salerno principle has been controversial, and the Justices have allowed “overbreadth” arguments when dealing with laws that restrict speech and reach substantially more conduct than the justifications advanced for the statute support, see Stevens, 130 S. Ct. at 1587, the Court has continued to cite Salerno favorably in other situations. See, e.g., Washington State Grange v. Washington State Republican Party, 552 U.S. 442, 449–50 (2008); cf. Gonzales v. Carhart, 550 U.S. 124, 167–68 (2007) (observing that “facial” challenges to statutes generally are restricted to litigation under the First Amendment). If convictions may be used to limit where sex offenders can live (and whether they must register), see Connecticut Department of Public Safety v. Doe, 538 U.S. 1 (2003), a disqualification-onconviction statute such as §922(g)(9) also is generally proper. Whether a misdemeanant who has been law abiding for an extended period must be allowed to carry guns again, even if he cannot satisfy §921(a)(33)(B)(ii), is a question not presented today. There will be time enough to consider that subject when it arises.

Once all of the exceptions to the Constitution are carved out, the Founding Fathers’ Original Document will be meaningless.

Chicago Criminal attorney comments on the 4th Amendment being out to lunch

2010-07-13T19:23:00.000-07:00

This Chicago Criminal attorney posted here about people who were never arrested and yet they land in police databases. Can you guess how many times this was done?

From nytimes.com:

This small army of officers, night after night, spends much of its energy pursuing the controversial Police Department tactic known as “Stop, Question, Frisk,” and it does so at a rate unmatched anywhere else in the city.

The officers stop people they think might be carrying guns; they stop and question people who merely enter the public housing project buildings without a key; they ask for identification from, and run warrant checks on, young people halted for riding bicycles on the sidewalk.

One night, 20 officers surrounded a man outside the Brownsville Houses after he would not let an officer smell the contents of his orange juice container.

Between January 2006 and March 2010, the police made nearly 52,000 stops on these blocks and in these buildings, according to a New York Times analysis of data provided by the Police Department and two organizations, the Center for Constitutional Rights and the New York Civil Liberties Union. In each of those encounters, officers logged the names of those stopped — whether they were arrested or not — into a police database that the police say is valuable in helping solve future crimes.

These encounters amounted to nearly one stop a year for every one of the 14,000 residents of these blocks. In some instances, people were stopped because the police said they fit the description of a suspect. But the data show that fewer than 9 percent of stops were made based on “fit description.” Far more — nearly 26,000 times — the police listed either “furtive movement,” a catch-all category that critics say can mean anything or “other as the only reason for the stop. Many of the stops, the data show, were driven by the police’s ability to enforce seemingly minor violations of rules governing that can come and go in the city’s public housing.

The encounters — most urgently meant to get guns off the streets — yield few arrests. Across the city, 6 percent of stops result in arrests. In these roughly eight square blocks of Brownsville, the arrest rate is less than 1 percent. The 13,200 stops the police made in this neighborhood last year resulted in arrests of 109 people. In the more than 50,000 stops since 2006, the police recovered 25 guns.

The Fourth Amendment means we are all supposed to be safe from unlawful, unwanted, and unwarranted searches and seizures.

Anyone care to guess why this unconstitutional operation continued for so long, while yielding so little?

Chicago Criminal attorney comments on Switzerland's refusal to extradite Roman Polanski

2010-07-12T19:31:00.000-07:00

This Chicago Criminal attorney has posted here, here, and here about sex crimes. Earlier today, Switzerland refused to extradite Roman Polanski back to the states. You may recall Mr. Polanski fled after pleading guilty to having sex with a thirteen year old girl.

July 12, Los Angeles, CA:

The Swiss government's decision Monday to free Roman Polanski outraged Los Angeles prosecutors and U.S. officials but effectively ended a legal odyssey that has lurched along with periodic eruptions of public furor since 1977, when the famed director was accused of raping a 13-year-old girl.

Polanski will not be extradited to the United States to face sentencing for having unlawful sex with the girl, allowing him to live freely in Switzerland and France, where he has resided since he fled the United States 32 years ago.

Well here’s one sex offender who won’t be required to register as a sex offender.

Chicago Criminal attorney comments on mandatory DNA testing in IL sex cases

2010-07-06T18:54:00.000-07:00

This Chicago Criminal attorney has posted here, here and here about the significance of DNA evidence. For a defense attorney, it’s a lot like having a video. It tends to either significantly strengthen the defense case on behalf of the accused or it can strengthen the government’s case against the accused. Looks like after a rash of exonerations and mea culpas for wrongly accusing (and frequently incarcerating) the innocent, Illinois is taking a stand.

July 6, Chicago, Il

Illinois has become the first state to require the testing of all DNA evidence gathered from sex crimes under a new law signed today by Gov. Pat Quinn.

The law, which does not provide new funding for the mandate, comes after a Tribune review found that many rape kits were being placed in police storage untested, depriving the state of opportunities to solves crimes and exonerate the wrongfully convicted.

"It's a landmark law," said Sarah Tofte, a researcher with Human Rights Watch, which has advocated for the testing of rape kits nationwide. "It could make Illinois a terrific model for the rest of the country."

"Thousands of rape kits are not tested," Quinn said. "That's not acceptable."

Starting Oct. 1, police departments will be required to submit all DNA evidence from sex crimes to the state crime lab within 10 days of collecting it. The lab will have to analyze the evidence within six months, but only "if sufficient staffing and resources are available."

By Oct. 15, law enforcement agencies must provide the crime lab with an inventory of all untested rape kits in their storage facilities. Within four months, the crime lab must submit to the Illinois attorney general and General Assembly a timeline and budget for analyzing the untested kits -- a number estimated at more than 4,000.

Yes, it will cost money to make sure the right person is charged, but already taxpayers have spent millions on trying to make amends to people wrongly accused and incarcerated.

Chicago Criminal attorney knows that every day is Independence Day

2010-07-05T09:08:00.000-07:00

This Chicago Criminal Defense attorney, like so many in the defense bar, is asked with some regularity, “How can you defend those people”? My response always includes the reminder that perhaps they aren’t guilty. It amazes me that people seem surprised that the innocent are charged. We all know it happens daily.

But in this country, where every day is Independence Day, it is the Criminal Defense attorney and the DUI attorney, who know what it means to fight for the rights are forefathers intended for all of us to have in this country.

One of the most compelling responses to the question can be found in the U.S. Supreme Court opinion in U.S. v. Wade, 388 U.S. 218 (1967) by Justice White:

Law enforcement officers have the obligation to convict the guilty and to make sure they do not convict the innocent. They must be dedicated to making the criminal trial a procedure for the ascertainment of the true facts surrounding the commission of the crime. To this extent, our so-called adversary system is not adversary at all; nor should it be. But defense counsel has no comparable obligation to ascertain or present the truth. Our system assigns him a different mission. He must be and is interested in preventing the conviction of the innocent, but, absent a voluntary plea of guilty, we also insist that he defend his client whether he is innocent or guilty. The State has the obligation to present the evidence. Defense counsel need present nothing, even if he knows what the truth is. He need not furnish any witnesses to the police, or reveal any confidences of his client, or furnish any other information to help the prosecution’s case. If he can confuse a witness, even a truthful one, or make him appear at a disadvantage, unsure or indecisive, that will be his normal course. Our interest in not convicting the innocent permits counsel to put the State to its proof, to put the State’s case in the worst possible light, regardless of what he thinks or knows to be the truth. Undoubtedly there are some limits which defense counsel must observe but more often than not, defense counsel will cross-examine a prosecution witness, and impeach him if he can, even if he thinks the witness is telling the truth, just as he will attempt to destroy a witness who he thinks is lying. In this respect, as part of our modified adversary system and as part of the duty imposed on the most honorable defense counsel, we countenance or require conduct which in many instances has little, if any, relation to the search for truth.

Our Constitution is a living document that provides individuals with protection from the wrath of the government, even when the government lacks a vendetta against the individual.

Chicago Criminal attorney ponders the strength of the Constitution over this Independence Day Weekend

2010-07-03T09:37:00.000-07:00

This Chicago Criminal attorney is hopeful that a law to limit databases filled with people who are never arrested or charged with a crime comes to fruition.

July 3, New York, NY

To police officials, a computer database full of the names and addresses of people questioned by officers in millions of street stops in New York City is a core tool in their fight to keep reducing crime.

The officials argue that the files — which include information about people never actually arrested or charged — have fed detectives essential clues for making arrests, particularly in some high-profile bias and hate crimes.

But to an increasing array of lawmakers, the database represents an unconstitutional inventory of mostly young blacks and Hispanics, many of whom, although they are determined to have done nothing wrong, have their names and addresses in the hands of a powerful law enforcement agency. There have been roughly three million street stops in New York since 2004, and by one count, 9 in 10 of the people stopped by the police were not accused of any crime or violation.

Now the debate has shifted to whether Gov. David A. Paterson should sign or veto a legislative remedy.

The State Senate and the Assembly passed a bill that would prohibit the police from saving the personal data of people who are stopped but not arrested or fined.

The bill has yet to land on the governor’s desk, but one sponsor, Senator Eric L. Adams, a Brooklyn Democrat, said that in a conversation on Wednesday night, Mr. Paterson “stated to me he sees no problem with getting this bill signed into law.”

Earlier Wednesday, when asked if he would sign the bill, Mr. Paterson said he would have to read it first. But he gave some hint of where he stood, saying, “I don’t see why you have a database on people who have not been found to do anything wrong, but just how far the bill goes is something I’ll take a look at.”

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg “will urge the governor to veto the bill,” a spokesman, Jason Post, said. By limiting the information that the Police Department “can record, electronically, in stop and frisks, the ability of police to solve subsequent crimes will be limited,” Mr. Post said.

One more reason to avoid any interaction with law enforcement, unless, of course, you called for them. One more reason to worry about what happens to the DNA collected of all who are arrested, remember there are some that aren't guilty of the crimes.

Chicago Criminal attorney comments on the new Chicago Gun Ordinance

2010-07-02T09:20:00.000-07:00

This Chicago Criminal attorney posted here, here, and here about the City’s gun regulations. The City has prepared its response in light of coming in 2nd place in the United State’s Supreme Court Decision of McDonald v. City of Chicago.

July 2, Chicago, Il:

Instead of one handgun for every qualified person living in a home as planned, it allows "one handgun per month" and prohibits possession outside the home. The garage, yard, porch, deck or walkway would be off-limits.

If there are two qualified adults in a home, 24 handguns -- a virtual arsenal -- could legally be purchased during the course of a year.

No more than one firearm could be "assembled and operable." The rest must be secured or "broken down in a non-functioning state."

The liability insurance component to shield taxpayers from lawsuits if first responders are confronted by armed residents, which Daley had talked about repeatedly, was dropped.

"Currently on the marketplace, there is no stand-alone kind of policy that one can procure. And to cover it under homeowners or renters insurance can be exceptionally expensive," Corporation Counsel Mara Georges said.

Gun shops would be prohibited within the city limits.

The ordinance, advanced by the Police Committee on Thursday, requires city residents to register their weapons after taking at least four hours of firearms safety training in the classroom and one hour on a firing range.

The Chicago Firearms Permit would cost $100 and have to be renewed every three years. In addition, gun owners would have to pay an application fee of $15 for each firearm registered and an annual reporting fee of $10 per firearm.

Chicagoans would be prohibited from obtaining permits if they are under 18; 18, 19 or 20 without parent's permission; have been convicted of a violent crime or two or more drug or drunken-driving offenses, or lack vision sufficient for a driver's license.

Daley argued that the ordinance "responsibly and reasonably balances" the Second Amendment right to own a gun for self-defense, no matter where you live, "with our determination to protect our residents from violence and keep them safe."

This isn’t perfect and there will be challenges to the City’s new gun ordinance. Hmmm, do you think there will be a run on hand gun sales now for Chicago residents?

Chicago Criminal attorney thinks receiving collect calls from the accused is a real hardship for their families

2010-06-30T17:50:00.000-07:00

Wow! This Chicago Criminal attorney understands the burdens in representing a client. She also understands the sizeable burden placed on the families of those incarcerated, especially those that are awaiting trial, but unable to make bond—that’s right the accused, not the guilty, but the accused.

She recently spoke to a client who has been housed outside of Cook County; it’s cheaper that way for taxpayers. When the call came through, she received a pre-recorded message indicating a call from a correctional facility was being made. The message then went on to indicate that there would be a one-time charge that would appear for $9.95 for up to twenty minutes of phone time. The message then indicated that just because twenty minutes was available it did not mean that I could talk for twenty minutes, as that was regulated by the Correctional facility, and the conversation could be for as short a period of time as five minutes.

Additionally, the call is recorded. Not that it should be a surprise, but at least they say it. $9.95 for five minutes, most international calls have a far better rate.

Chicago Criminal attorney says the City of Chicago took 2nd Place to the 2nd Amendment and gun rights

2010-06-28T19:44:00.000-07:00

This Chicago Criminal attorney isn’t surprised. The Supreme Court issued its ruling today in McDonald v. City of Chicago. This Chicago Criminal attorney has posted here, here, and here about the case this season.

From the Majority, written by Justice Samuel Alitio:

Two years ago, in District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U. S. ___ (2008), we held that the Second Amendment protects the right to keep and bear arms for the purpose of self-defense, and we struck down a District of Columbia law that banned the possession of handguns in the home.The city of Chicago (City) and the village of Oak Park, a Chicago suburb, have laws that are similar to the District of Columbia’s, but Chicago and Oak Park argue that their laws are constitutional because the Second Amendment has no application to the States. We have previously heldthat most of the provisions of the Bill of Rights apply with full force to both the Federal Government and the States. Applying the standard that is well established in our caselaw, we hold that the Second Amendment right is fully applicable to the States.

What will be most interesting is how the City now crafts its regulations of guns as noted in Justice Breyer’s dissenting opinion:

Given the competing interests, courts will have to try toanswer empirical questions of a particularly difficult kind.Suppose, for example, that after a gun regulation’s adoption the murder rate went up. Without the gun regulationwould the murder rate have risen even faster? How is this conclusion affected by the local recession which has left numerous people unemployed? What about budget cutsthat led to a downsizing of the police force? How effective was that police force to begin with? And did the regulation simply take guns from those who use them for lawfulpurposes without affecting their possession by criminals?

Consider too that countless gun regulations of manyshapes and sizes are in place in every State and in manylocal communities. Does the right to possess weapons forself-defense extend outside the home? To the car? To work? What sort of guns are necessary for self-defense?Handguns? Rifles? Semiautomatic weapons? When is a gun semi-automatic? Where are different kinds of weapons likely needed? Does time-of-day matter? Does the presence of a child in the house matter? Does the presence of a convicted felon in the house matter? Do police need special rules permitting patdowns designed to findguns? When do registration requirements become severe to the point that they amount to an unconstitutional ban?Who can possess guns and of what kind? Aliens? Prior drug offenders? Prior alcohol abusers? How would the right interact with a state or local government’s ability totake special measures during, say, national security emergencies? As the questions suggest, state and local gunregulation can become highly complex, and these “are onlya few uncertainties that quickly come to mind.” Caperton v. A. T. Massey Coal Co., 556 U. S. ___, ___ (2009) (ROB-ERTS, C. J., dissenting) (slip op., at 10).

On a non-criminal aside: The folks who are interested in State’s Rights just lost a round in their battle today with this decision.