Posted on March 16, 2019 in Uncategorized

Shoplifting is often seen as a minor criminal offense by the general public. Many adults remember attempting to steal a candy bar as a child or know somebody who has swiped a lipstick or two from a drug store. These instances of theft may seem harmless, but stealing is not a victimless crime. Retail stores are constantly looking for ways to mitigate the losses from shoplifting and states are increasingly becoming stricter with punitive consequences for theft. Furthermore, shoplifting high-value items can be considered a felony offense in Illinois. If you have been charged with theft in Illinois, you may be facing a felony which can have life-altering consequences.

Defining Theft as Per Illinois Law

Illinois Statute 720 ILCS 5/16-1 defines theft as obtaining someone else’s property through deception, threat, or without consent. A person may also be charged with theft if he or she knowing buys or otherwise obtains stolen property. The severity of punishment for those convicted of theft is typically determined by the total value of the property that was stolen. If the item which was stolen costs less than $500, it is typically considered a Class A misdemeanor offense. This is punishable by less than one year in prison and up to $2,500 in fines.

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 Posted on March 15, 2019 in Uncategorized

If you have been charged aggravated driving under the influence (DUI) because you caused an accident in which other people were seriously were seriously injured, you may feel there are extenuating circumstances that should be considered in your case. Whenever there are unusual circumstances in a legal case, it may be worth taking the case to trial so that all the facts can be laid out for a judge or jury to consider. Even if you are still found guilty, mitigating circumstances can be considered in sentencing.

However, your attorney will also carefully investigate the law and any case precedents to determine your chances of winning.

A Recent Example

A recent Illinois case provides a useful illustration of these principles. This defendant was charged with aggravated DUI because she caused a collision with injuries, and she tested positive for marijuana. In her defense, the woman argued that she was not impaired by marijuana at the time, although she admitted to illegal marijuana use in the past. Instead, she argued, her medical condition of low blood pressure had caused her to lose consciousness, leading to the collision.

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 Posted on March 14, 2019 in Uncategorized

If you have ever been pulled over on suspicion o f driving under the influence (DUI) then you may have had experience with a breathalyzer. Technically, the term “breathalyzer” is a brand name for a specific type of breath alcohol test, but the word is also used to refer to generic devices for estimating blood alcohol content (BAC). There is quite a bit of confusion about breath tests and the legal consequences of failing a breath test. Some people say you can refuse a breath test while others say you cannot. Read on to learn about Illinois DUI law and what to expect if you are ever asked to breathe into a breathalyzer.

Can I Refuse a Breath Alcohol Test?

The answer to whether or not a person can refuse a breath alcohol test and whether one should refuse a breath test are different. Technically, if a police officer pulls over a suspected drunk driver and tells him or her to submit to a chemical BAC test, the driver can say no. The police are not going to forcibly make the driver take the test.

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 Posted on March 13, 2019 in Uncategorized

One of the most well-known mass shootings in the United States happened at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado in 1999. Two teenage boys managed to kill 13 people and injure more than 20 others before they shot themselves. Since then, there have been dozens upon dozens of mass shootings, killing hundreds of people and injuring thousands of others. One of the most recent mass shootings happened in Aurora, IL on February 15 of this year and has now sparked gun law reform in Illinois.

Man Starts Shooting Workplace Because of Termination

A mass shooting took place in Aurora, IL at the Henry Pratt Co. after an employee discovered he was being fired from his job. The man was determined to be Gary Martin, 45, who killed five people and injured several more at his place of employment. Martin was being terminated for breaking a company rule. Martin had illegally purchased a .40-caliber handgun, even though he had been convicted of a felony in a different state and used that gun to commit the shooting. Records show that he successfully obtained an Illinois firearm owner’s identification card (FOID) in 2014, even though he was ineligible to receive one.

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 Posted on March 12, 2019 in Uncategorized

Both the state of Illinois and the U.S. Supreme Court have taken action recently to protect citizens from the unreasonable seizure of personal property allegedly used in the commission of or obtained with the profits of criminal activities such as drug possession and sales. The Illinois law took effect July 1, 2018, while the U.S. Supreme Court ruling was handed down on February 20, 2019.

These reforms are a welcome response to widespread concerns that law enforcement agencies have abused the power given to them by civil asset forfeiture laws at both the state and federal levels. These laws permit a law enforcement agency to seize private property involved in a crime even though the owner of the property has not yet been convicted or even charged with a crime. In some cases, the property owner was not even aware that their car or home was in any way associated with the commission of a crime.

In many cases, the assets seized by police are excessive relative to the severity of the crime. Is it fair, for example, for the police to seize a $40,000 car used to transport and sell $400 worth of drugs when the maximum fine for this crime is $10,000? In Illinois alone, asset seizures have reportedly exceeded $30 million per year.

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 Posted on March 11, 2019 in Uncategorized

Thanks to a new federal law that took effect in December 2018, hemp has been officially removed from the federal controlled substances list. This means that you no longer need to worry about being charged with illegal drug possession for using cannabidiol (CBD) oil made from hemp in Illinois nor in any other state in the US. Under both federal and Illinois state law, hemp is defined as a cannabis plant that contains cannabinoids such as cannabidiol (CBD) but no more than 0.3 percent THC, the psychoactive compound in marijuana.

However, CBD oil derived from marijuana plants with more than 0.3 percent THC is still classified as an illegal Schedule I drug under federal law. It is legally available in Illinois only to registered medical marijuana patients.

2018 Farm Bill Legalizes Commercial Hemp Production

The 2018 Farm Bill, signed into law on December 20, 2018, took hemp off the Schedule I controlled substances list and allowed hemp to be regulated by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). Hemp can now be grown under an approved state program or a federal program yet to be developed by the USDA. This legislation, officially known as Public Law 115-334, the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, opens critical doors to interstate commerce and bank financing for hemp farmers—considerations that are not yet open to marijuana producers.

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 Posted on March 09, 2019 in Uncategorized

Contrary to what some people may believe, driving is very much a privilege and not a right. There are actually quite a few ways in which an Illinois driver can lose his or her driving privileges in Illinois. Not paying child support, being convicted of DUI, not obeying a court summons, and not paying traffic tickets or fines are all ways that you can lose your driving privileges in Illinois. There is also another way you can lose your driving privileges: accumulating too many points on your Illinois driving record.

Illinois’ Driver’s License Points System

Like almost all states, the state of Illinois has a points system in place that applies to each and every driver in the state. Traffic violations are each assigned a points value and every time you commit a traffic violation, the number of points corresponding to the specific violation will be added to your driving record. The number of points that are assigned to a specific traffic violation depend on the severity of the violation - more serious violations will have a higher point value, while lesser violations may only carry a few points. Common traffic violations and the points they carry include:

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 Posted on March 08, 2019 in Uncategorized

In a recent post on this blog, we discussed the basics of Illinois DUI law as well as possible defenses to DUI charges. Being accused of driving under the influence can have life-altering consequences. It is crucial that anyone charged with a DUI knows what their rights are as a criminal defendant as well as their legal options moving forward.

Refusing a Breath Test Does Not Prevent License Suspension

If you are pulled over on suspicion of DUI, police officers will ask you to submit to chemical BAC testing. While you technically have the option to refuse a breath test, doing so can have serious punitive consequences. Illinois has an “implied consent law” which states that anyone who drives a motor vehicle on public roads is considered to have given consent to a chemical blood alcohol content test. Refusing a breathalyzer or other BAC test after a DUI arrest results in the suspension of the suspect’s driving privileges. The summary suspension for the first refusal is a one-year license suspension. Refusing a breath test a second time within five years of the first refusal results in a three-year license suspension. Even if a suspect is eventually acquitted of DUI charges, you still have to contest the license suspension of your license to avoid these suspensions.

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 Posted on March 06, 2019 in Uncategorized

If you have been charged with driving under the influence, you may be lost and unsure of what to do next. Penalties for an Illinois DUI can include the suspension of your driver’s license, hefty fines, and possible jail time. Subsequent DUI arrests can result in felony DUI charges and potential imprisonment. As with any criminal charge, the first step is to educate yourself about the law you have allegedly broken and to reach out to an experienced local DUI attorney. An experienced attorney will know how to form a solid defense against the charges.

Police Always Ask You to Take a Chemical Test

Many DUI cases can hinge on the results of a blood alcohol content (BAC) chemical test. There are a few different ways law enforcement can test a suspect’s BAC level. In Illinois, urine, blood, and breath are the most common ways, with a breath test being the most common. Blood screenings for BAC are considered more invasive, so they are only used when there is reason to believe a breath test won’t suffice; for example, if there is an allegation of drug use a blood or urine test would likely be requested. Another example of when a blood test might be requested is if there was grave injury done to another driver or individual due to your operation of a motor vehicle.

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 Posted on March 05, 2019 in Uncategorized

In today’s digitally connected world, people are constantly sharing videos of virtually everything from their child’s school plays to funny moments with pets to a variety of “challenges” to raise money for charity. It is nearly impossible to go anywhere without seeing at least one person on some sort of device filming themselves or the things going around them. While making and sharing such videos are usually little more than a form of entertainment, things become much more serious when citizens attempt to film police officers as the officers carry out their duties. In many cases, those attempting to film the police have been threatened with arrest, and some have even been taken into custody for refusing to stop filming. If you have been arrested simply for filming the police in a public setting, there are some things that you should know about your rights.

A High-Profile Example

Early last year, an attorney in North Carolina was stopped by police while he was working his side job as an Uber driver. It seems that he had picked up a passenger from a known drug house, and the police stopped the vehicle to detain the attorney’s passenger. During the course of the stop, the driver began filming the police as they milled about his car deciding what to do next. In the video—which eventually went viral on social media and is currently available on YouTube—one of the officers can be seen and heard threatening to arrest the driver unless he stopped filming. The officer even claimed that there was a new law in North Carolina that prohibited the filming of the police. (There was not then and is not now such a law.)

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