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Recent Blog Posts
Traffic Stops and Reasonable Mistakes of Law
Police are tasked with enforcing the law, but this can lead to problems when the police themselves do not understand it. For instance, police are not allowed to initiate a traffic stop for no good reason because a baseless stop violates the driver’s Fourth Amendment right to be protected from unreasonable searches and seizures. Instead, police must have a reasonable suspicion of a crime in order to stop a car. This leaves open the question of what to do when an officer has a reasonable suspicion that a driver is committing a crime because the officer misunderstands the law. A 2014 U.S. Supreme Court ruling determined that, in most such situations, a stop conducted as the result of an officer’s misunderstanding of the law is considered acceptable.
Traffic Stop Takes an Unexpected Turn
The case arose from a traffic stop that began as fairly routine. The police officer in question initiated the stop on the basis of the subject vehicle’s broken taillight—a condition that the officer believed was in violation of state law in North Carolina. During the stop, the officer asked for and received permission to search the vehicle. The search yielded a bag of cocaine, and the car’s owner was arrested.
Legal Marijuana Could Help Fight Heroin Epidemic
Over the last decade and a half, heroin use has become an issue of critical concern for communities around the country. The problem has become so serious and prevalent that it is being considered a nationwide epidemic. The federal government estimates that, on average, more than 75 people die every day from opioid overdoses—a class of drug that includes heroin as well as legally prescribed painkillers like Oxycontin and Vicodin.
The nature of heroin addiction makes deterrent and punitive efforts by law enforcement agencies difficult at best. A new study, however, suggests that the battle against heroin and opioid abuse may be shifting in some states—and for a surprising reason. It seems that the incremental legalization of marijuana may be decreasing heroin abuse and overdoses in states where medical marijuana programs have been implemented.
Promising Numbers
According to Yuyan Shi , a professor in the Department of Family Medicine and Public Health at the University of California, San Diego, “Medical marijuana laws may have reduced hospitalizations related to opioid pain relievers.” Shi compiled data from states which have legalized marijuana for medical use and found those that did saw hospitalizations for opioid use and abuse drop by about 23 percent. Hospitalizations for opioid overdoses dropped by an average of 13 percent. The research also indicated that there was no increase in marijuana-related hospitalizations, as critics of medical cannabis programs had feared might happen.
New Law Increases Eligibility for Expungement
When you are arrested and charged with a crime, your arrest will remain on your permanent record, even if the charges against you are dismissed. Criminal background checks are often part of the application process when you are looking for a job, a loan, or even admission to certain educational programs. If you have even just one arrest in your history, you may be forced to answer some uncomfortable and often embarrassing questions from hiring managers, lenders, and admissions officers. Depending on how your case played out, however, you may be eligible to have your arrest record expunged. Thanks to a new law in Illinois, more individuals could qualify for expungement going forward helping those who have made mistakes build a better future.
Understanding Expungement
As intimidating as the word “expungement” may sound, its meaning is very positive. Expungement is the complete destruction of all records related to a particular arrest and prosecution. When an arrest record is expunged, it is no longer visible on background checks, and you will no longer be required to disclose you were ever arrested for that charge. It is almost as though the arrest never happened.
Theft Charges and Possessing Stolen Property
Most people are familiar with the crime of theft —which is an offense that is committed when someone takes property that belongs to another. Most are even familiar with the principle that a theft is still committed when a person obtains control over another’s property by trickery or by deceit. Furthermore, most people are aware that it is a crime to knowingly receive property that was stolen by another. However, Illinois law states that, if a person has received stolen property, he or she may be charged with theft, almost as if he or she stole the property in the first place.
Theft
There are several ways to commit a theft in Illinois. The most basic understanding of theft includes obtaining or exerting unauthorized control over another’s property, including by deception or some type of threat. Theft is also committed if a person obtains or exerts control over property known or stated by law enforcement to have already been stolen. In short, a person commits theft anytime he or she, without the permission of the owner, takes another’s property or knowingly receives stolen property.
Will County Offers Alternatives to Drug-Addicted Offenders
Will County Drug Court
In 1971, President Richard Nixon announced to the American public that the nation was at war. Instead of fighting a pitched military battle against another country, the enemy in this particular was drug abuse. In the months and years that followed, federal efforts to control illegal drugs were kicked into high gear with the creation of new agencies and regulations that increased the penalties associated with drug convictions. The “War on Drugs” continued for several decades, with presidents like Ronald Reagan expanding its reach. Criminal consequences became even more severe and prisons began filling to capacity and beyond with non-violent drug offenders.
More recently, however, government officials around the country are beginning to second-guess the draconian approach to illegal drug use and abuse, especially pertaining to offenders whose behavior is driven by bona fide addiction. Harsh criminal penalties are hardly a detriment for a person with addiction issues, and the War on Drugs did surprisingly little to rehabilitate those who were addicted to drugs. As a result, diversionary programs have become increasingly popular in many states, including here in Illinois. One such program is known as Drug Court and is specifically designed to break the cycle of addiction and integrating non-violent offender back into a law-abiding way of life.
99-Year-Old Dutch Woman “Arrested” to Fulfill Bucket List Wish
The phrase “bucket list” entered the public consciousness sometime around 2006 or 2007 thanks, in large part, to a feature film called The Bucket List. As an irreverent play on the idiom “to kick the bucket”—which means to die—a bucket list has come to be known as a list of experiences that a person would like to have at some point in his or her lifetime. Common bucket list items include climbing a mountain, swimming with dolphins, and visiting the Statue of Liberty. Some people, however, crave something a little different—such as the elderly woman in the Netherlands whose wish was to see a jail cell from the inside.
“All Smiles”
According to various reports and the Facebook account of the police department in the Dutch town Nijmegen-Zuid, a 99-year-old woman named Annie was “arrested” last month at the request of Annie’s niece. Officers gently placed the woman in handcuffs, drove her to the police station, and locked her in a holding cell. Photos posted to Facebook show Annie beaming with delight as she proudly showed off her handcuffs, finally getting her wish to “experience a police cell from within.” The local police department called it a “day to remember,” and it is surely one that nobody involved will soon forget.
Issues Unique to Juvenile Defense
Despite the common belief to the contrary, juvenile criminal cases are often more complex than those for their adult counterparts accused of the same offense. Regulations covering the criminal conduct and prosecution of juveniles are not uniform, with individual courts often instituting their own policies on any aspect of such procedures not explicitly governed by the relevant law. If one is accused of a crime while still a juvenile under the the law, there are certain questions that may must be addressed that would likely be taken for granted with an adult defendant.
Similar Yet Different Rules
Juvenile proceedings in Illinois are usually governed by the Illinois Juvenile Court Act , though some, such as for minors in possession of controlled substances, are usually tried in the same court as those of adults accused of the same offenses. However, some of the rights commonly associated with criminal trials are not granted to juvenile defendants. For example, no bail is available in the juvenile system, and juvenile defendants are not usually held until their trial, even for crimes that might otherwise warrant it.
Judge Sends Drunk Driver’s Mother to Jail for Courtroom Behavior
A criminal courtroom is a serious place. Sometimes, the setting may seem more somber than is necessary, but, in most cases, the decisions being made will affect the lives of not only the defendant but his or her family as well. It is up to each judge to determine what types of behavior are and are not acceptable in his or her courtroom, and some are certainly more lenient than others. A recent example from Wayne County, Michigan, however, demonstrates the dangers of failing to act appropriately as the mother of a drunk driver was sent to jail by a judge whose patience had been tested enough.
Tragic Circumstances
The incident occurred during a sentencing hearing for a 25-year-old woman who had pled guilty to driving under the influence and causing death. The woman had been arrested in June following a DUI accident which killed one man and severely injured the man’s fiancée. She was back in the courtroom last month to receive her sentence and listen to impact statements from the victim’s family. The admitted drunk driver was in tears as the impact statements were being read, but the woman’s family members had a different reaction.
Defending Against Weapons Charges
The Second Amendment guarantees the right of United States citizens to keep and bear arms, but that right is not absolute and may not be exercised with unbridled abandon. Occasionally, the average layman may misunderstand the scope of weapons regulations , or even willfully decide to violate them. Either way, an attorney knowledgeable on the subject can help ensure that such a charge is dealt with appropriately and in a timely fashion.
Understanding Illinois Weapon Laws
The offenses grouped under the vague category of “weapons charges” are numerous and varied. Most are related to improper carrying, display, or use of a firearm in an inappropriate place, but using or brandishing any weapon can land its owner in trouble with the law, as well as owning one without a license or FOID (firearm owner’s identification card). Illinois does have fairly stringent gun control laws, with several small details that can prove problematic if they are not sufficiently understood.
Limits Passed on Stingray Devices | Will County Criminal Defense Attorney
Limitations on Stingray Devices
Stingray devices are used prevalently throughout the state of Illinois by local and state police departments. These powerful pieces of equipment, also known as “cell site simulators” or “IMSI catchers” mimic a standard cell phone tower. They are useful in tracking cell phones by sending out signals to a cellular device which allows the operator to locate the responding phone. However, with this technology comes the rise of privacy concerns as the device also returns data regarding the phones of those who are not under investigation. The problem motivated Illinois legislators to alter the state’s laws to protect the rights of Illinois citizens.
Why Are They Used?
A Stingray is only about the size of a suitcase but can intercept, collect, access, transfer, or forward the data received or stored by hundreds or thousands of cell phones within any given geographic area. Although they are not used throughout the entire United States, the cities and states that have them have been able to assist those in need. For instance, in October the technology helped in locating a 6-year-old girl in Arizona. When the device is in active mode, a compatible device is forced to disconnect from the actual cell tower and connect with the simulator, forcing all devices in the area to identify their location with the use of radio waves.
