Schedule a Free Consultation|
Call 815-740-4025
-
- Home
- Our Firm
- Criminal Defense
- Assault & Battery
- Domestic Battery / Domestic Violence
- DUI/DWI
- Drug Crimes
- Driver's License Reinstatement
- Speeding Tickets, Traffic Offenses & Violations
- CDL Violations
- Gun & Weapons Charges
- Felony Crimes
- Misdemeanor Crimes
- Juvenile Crimes
- Expungement & Record Sealing
- Resisting Arrest / Obstructing the Police
- Retail Theft & Shoplifting
- Police Questioning: When Miranda Warnings Are Required
- Media
- Blog
- Contact
Recent Blog Posts
How a Governor’s Pardon Can Clear Your Criminal Record
Someone who committed a crime ten or twenty years ago will still have that conviction on their criminal record, even after they have been fully released from prison, probation, and/or parole. While some criminal convictions can be sealed or expunged from your criminal record (preventing them from showing up on background checks for employment and other purposes) other crimes, such as driving under the influence, are not eligible for either sealing or expungement.
For example, someone might have been convicted of DUI, burglary, or drug possession at age 22, and this can still cause them problems at age 40, such as reducing employment opportunities, preventing them from getting the license necessary to practice a certain profession, and restricting them from getting a FOID card that will allow them to participate in hunting and shooting sports.
For crimes that do not qualify for either sealing or expungement, there is a third option: getting a pardon from the state governor, also known as executive clemency.
Man Charged With Hate Crime for Harassing Woman Wearing Puerto Rico Flag Shirt
According to Illinois law, a person can be charged with a hate crime when he or she commits certain offenses and is motivated by the actual or perceived characteristics of another person or a group of people. These characteristics include race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, and disability status. The offenses that can be charged as hate crimes include assault, battery, intimidation, criminal trespass, theft, cyberstalking, and many others.
While it can be difficult to prove a person’s motivation for committing a particular crime in many cases, it is often much easier in others. Such seems to be the situation for a Chicago man whose interaction with a woman wearing a Puerto Rico flag shirt was caught on camera and resulted in hate crime charges against the man.
College Man Shot By Police After He Refuses to Put Down Gun
A college student was shot by three police officers July 12 after he was repeatedly told to lower his weapon. The man, a student at the University of Illinois, was shot in the leg after he pointed what was at the time thought to be a handgun at police and was given multiple warnings to drop the gun. Two college police officers and a Champaign County sheriff's deputy encountered the man after they received a call about a man loading a semi-automatic handgun. The man, who was later identified as a student at the University of Illinois, was charged with felony disorderly conduct.
Handgun Turns Out to Be Pellet Gun
When the police arrived on the scene, they were under the impression that the man was holding a loaded handgun. After instructing the man several times to lower the weapon, they shot him in the leg. After closer inspection of the gun, it was determined to be a Beretta air pellet pistol, which looks very similar to a real handgun. Police say the gun would not have been identified as an air pellet pistol without a close inspection.
National Defense Bar’s Report Highlights the “Trial Penalty” Problem
When a criminal defendant is presented with a possible plea bargain, one of the primary incentives to accept the agreement is a reduced sentence in exchange for pleading guilty. This means that refusing the agreement requires the defendant to risk a more severe sentence if he or she is found guilty at trial. The difference between the sentence offered in connection with a plea bargain and the sentence imposed after a trial is known as the “trial penalty,” and a prominent group of defense attorneys believes that trial penalties are now so severe that the right to trial guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution has been systematically compromised.
Most Cases Never Go to Trial
The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) recently conducted a two-year research project on the issue of trial penalties. The group released its findings earlier this month. Their report indicated that the rate of trial in federal cases has been falling for about 50 years and is now at less than 3 percent. Just 30 years ago, about one in five (20 percent) of federal defendants opted for a trial. The trial rate for state cases is around 6 percent.
Traveling with Firearms: Rules for Illinois Residents Versus Visitors
How to legally travel with their firearms, particularly their concealed carry handguns, is a serious concern for thousands of Illinois residents and visitors. Roughly 1.5 million Illinois residents have a Firearm Owners ID (FOID) card, and over 243,000 now hold a Concealed Carry License (CCL). Nationwide, over 16 million concealed carry permits have been issued.
Whether you live in or are a visitor to Illinois, you need to be aware that Illinois still has some of the most restrictive firearms laws in the nation. Here are a few tips to help you stay on the right side of the law, whether you live here, are vacationing here, or are just passing through:
1. Transporting Unloaded Firearms in Your Vehicle
Illinois Residents: You must have in your possession a valid Illinois Firearm Owners ID (FOID) card, and firearms should be unloaded and kept in a case.
Visitors: Non-residents who are permitted to possess a firearm in their own state may legally bring their firearms to Illinois (no Illinois FOID card needed), but firearms should be transported as described above.
Supreme Court Forbids Warrantless Use of Cell Site Location Information
The Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees the right of citizens to be “secure” from “unreasonable searches and seizure,” and that this right can only be violated upon a showing of probable cause. While the text of the Fourth Amendment has not changed in almost 230 years, the application of its promises has been the topic of much debate and thousands of criminal cases. Our nation’s highest court recently authored the latest chapter in the story of the Fourth Amendment, ruling that law enforcement officers must get a warrant before obtaining cell site location information (CSLI).
What Is CSLI?
Cell site location information refers to the records created and maintained by cell phone service providers each time a cell phone connects to a cell tower. Your phone, obviously, connects to a tower every time you make a call, send a message, or access the internet using cell service, but such actions represent a very small percentage of CSLI. The cell phone in your pocket is actually connecting to a tower every few seconds, letting the tower know that it is nearby and whether it is ready to receive a call or text.
Two Types of Driving Permits After a DUI License Suspension
Being charged and convicted of a DUI, or even being suspected of a DUI, can carry serious consequences, including the suspension or revocation of your driver’s license. In Illinois, you face a statutory summary license suspension if you fail a chemical test, refuse to submit to one, or fail to finish chemical testing. If you fail a chemical test, that means your blood-alcohol content (BAC) was more than .08% or you had a THC content of five or more nanograms per milliliter of blood or 10 or more nanograms per milliliter of a different bodily substance. The suspension is not a criminal charge, so you do not have to be convicted of a DUI to have your license suspended. Though suspensions can be troublesome, you have two options for obtaining a driving permit during your suspension.
Monitoring Device Driving Permit (MDDP)
This type of permit is available to first-time DUI offenders through the Illinois Secretary of State’s office and allows unlimited driving during the statutory suspension period. In order to receive a MDDP, you must have a breath alcohol ignition interlock device (BAIID) installed in your vehicle and maintained for the length of your suspension period. Those who are not eligible for a MDDP include drivers who are under the age of 18 and those who have previously received a statutory summary suspension in the last 5 yrrs. Drivers are also not eligible for a MDDP if they were driving with an invalid license, or if the DUI resulted in the death or great bodily harm to another.
DUI Cases: Should I Go To Trial?
When charged with driving under the influence, or any other crime, you have two choices. One is to plead guilty, often in exchange for a more lenient sentence because you are saving the prosecutor the time and cost of a trial. The other choice is to plead “not guilty” and ask for a trial.
If you plead guilty, you can pay the penalties and get on with your life more quickly. But unless you get court supervision, you will have a conviction on your criminal record and that conviction can bar you from many employment opportunities among other consequences.
Alternatively, if you go to trial, you could avoid a conviction entirely. And even if you lose the trial and are convicted, at least you still have the option of appealing that decision to a higher court based on any errors that may have occurred during your trial. Judges and juries do not always make the right decision, and it is possible to win on appeal, as evidenced by a recent Illinois court decision.
Types of White-Collar Crimes
White-collar crime is an interesting and unique classification of criminal behavior. Unlike many other crimes, white-collar crime is nonviolent crime that is typically perpetrated by those of high socioeconomic status or occupational responsibility. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has defined white-collar crime as illegal acts characterized by concealment or violation of trust, which are committed to obtain money, property, or services or to obtain a personal or business advantage. According to the FBI, white-collar crime costs the United States more than $300 billion annually, which is why these types of crimes are taken seriously and prosecuted accordingly.
Money Laundering
This type of white-collar crime involves perpetrators hiding the source from which they are getting their money and making it look like it came from somewhere else. Often, this is done by criminals who are gaining money from illegal activities such as:
Bill Would Allow Temporary Access to Medical Marijuana in Place of Opioid Painkillers
The United States is in the midst of what is being called an “epidemic.” Americans are struggling with heroin dependency and abuse on a scale that has never been seen before. Health experts believe that prescription opioid painkillers are a large part of the problem, but patients who are in serious pain often have few options. In Illinois, however, suffering patients may soon have temporary access to medical marijuana as an alternative to prescription opioids.
A Landmark Measure
Last month, both houses of the Illinois legislature passed The Alternatives to Opioids Act, which would give millions of Illinois residents conditional access to the state’s medical marijuana program. Under the existing program, an eligible patient must have one of several dozen approved medical conditions and undergo an application process through the state. It also requires patients to be fingerprinted and have a background check completed.
