“The taxpayers don’t pay us for intellectual curiosity. They pay us to get convictions.” While these words may have been thought by many prosecutors in the past, none have been bold enough to say them until now. This is just one of the controversial comments a Lake County prosecutor is under fire for—comments that have led to him announcing his retirement in January.

State’s Attorney Michael Waller says the comments made by this particular Lake County prosecutor do not reflect his views on the attorney’s office, “nor do they reflect the manner in which my staff has conducted themselves over the last 21 years.” In the past, Waller had called this prosecutor “a prosecutor’s prosecutor.” Now, his tune has changed.

The local sheriff had  demanded the prosecutor be dismissed after some comments that were made to the New York Times. When asked about a case involving a murdered 11 year old girl who was found with DNA not matching the defendant within her, he said the obvious explanation was that the child was sexually active.

As if that wasn’t enough, he is accused of trying to frame the now-freed Jerry Hobbs, who was convicted of killing his 8 year old daughter and her friend. The prosecutor in question said in regards to semen found on the girl (which didn’t match Hobbs), that she may have gotten it inside her while playing near the crime scene, where he said people would go to have sex. This despite the fact that the young victim was fully clothed.

A prosecutor represents the state; they represent the law in a criminal case. And they are there to find justice, no matter how it is served. Justice doesn’t always mean a conviction—it could mean knowing when to let a defendant go in order to pursue stronger suspects. This particular prosecutor doesn’t seem to agree, however.

He is also named in a defamation lawsuit brought by Jerry Hobbs and still maintains that he is convinced of Hobbs’ guilt, despite the fact that the DNA found on Hobbs’ daughter matches a convicted rapist and suspected murderer.

The state can’t allow such a controversial figure represent its interests and act as the long arm of the law. When it comes to enforcing criminal statutes, a fair, knowledgeable, and tactful professional is necessary.

When you are the one facing charges, it can be difficult to see the prosecution as any of these things. And while the ideal is a fair and just state attorney, that isn’t always the reality. Fortunately, your attorney is there to help ensure you are treated fairly.

If you are accused of a crime, whether it’s a drug offense or an assault case, contact our attorney today.

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Officer Gildardo Sierra has been with the Chicago Police Department for nine years ago. But this year has no doubt been the most turbulent. So far in 2011, Sierra has shot three people in the line of duty, two of those shootings resulting in death. Now, Sierra is under investigation and many are wondering why he wasn’t taken off the streets sooner.

The final straw was the latest shooting, that of Flint Farmer. Farmer was shot twice before falling face down in the street. A police dash cam shows Sierra walking up to Farmer, circling him as he lay, and firing three more times into his back. Farmer was unarmed.

The police were called on Farmer for allegedly assaulting his girlfriend and child. He was chased and a witness heard the police yell, “Don’t do it” before gunfire erupted. Farmer was only holding a cell phone.

Sierra maintained that he feared for his life, believing Farmer was armed. But was Sierra traumatized? Perhaps jittery after already shooting two people and a dog in the past six months.

In January, Sierra shot and killed a known drug dealer who refused to exit his vehicle after a stop. The suspect began dragging an officer with his car when Sierra and another opened fire. This suspect was armed, with a car and also with a gun under the driver’s seat.

The second shooting involved a man who pointed his weapon at officers, forcing Sierra and his partner to shoot. He lived and was sentenced to one year in prison for assault on a police officer.

All three shootings took place in Englewood and West Englewood, two of the most crime ridden areas in the city. From January to September there were 43 murders, 78 sexual assaults, and 753 robberies in that district, according to the Tribune.

The department admittedly does not track officer involved shootings. After an investigation, whose integrity is questionable, the issue is dropped and the officer returns to business as usual.

In this particular case, the police superintendent Garry McCarthy says there is a big problem and that Sierra should have never been on the streets following the first two shootings.

All three shootings are under investigation by the Independent Police Review Authority, an independent city agency tasked with looking into police shootings such as this. Also, the FBI is investigating the Englewood area for civil rights violations but they do not say whether or not the Sierra shootings are involved.

At first glance it seems the first two shootings may have been justified, though the last is highly questionable. When a police officer decides to use the most extreme level of force allowable, deadly force, there really should be no question at all as to its appropriateness. But officers often make questionable calls.

If you are charged with a crime and aren’t comfortable with how you were treated by police, contact us today to discuss your criminal case.

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In an effort to reduce jail populations and help offenders remain within the community, Cook County officials are expanding the use of electronic monitoring devices. While 2010 saw only 100 defendants in the county with the monitors, this year so far, there have been 865, a serious increase.

According to the Chicago Tribune, the reason for the rise is a collaborative effort between the Sheriff’s Department, the County Board President, the chief judge, state’s attorney, and public defender to run the state’s public safety division more efficiently. Both the Sheriff’s Department and the Cook County court system will be throwing in $1 million to expand the program and revamp it as well.

Most electronic monitoring cases are for those people charged with a crime who can’t afford a bond. Instead of sitting in the jail, they are outfitted with an electronic bracelet, worn around their ankle, which tracks where they are and limits their activity to things prescribed by the court. This could include employment or a job training program, boot camp, or the sheriff’s gardening program for those offenders who aren’t working.

All of those involved hope the changes will lead those involved in the system to becoming “a better citizen”.

Electronic monitoring is cheaper than housing someone in the jail and has less of a detrimental effect on the defendant without bypassing accountability for their alleged offense. It’s estimated a day in jail costs the county about $143 while a day under house arrest costs $65, less than half.

Because offenders won’t be missing work or sitting idly in the jail, they can continue to improve their lives and hopefully get back on track to living crime free.

Currently, the electronic monitoring program is only available to nonviolent offenders, such as with drug charges. Obviously, those involved believe keeping those deemed violent off the streets is in the best interest of public safety.

Electronic monitoring is just one example of effective jail alternatives. There are others. Depending on the jurisdiction of your charges, you could be eligible to have your case heard in a specialized drug court, for instance. Or, you could be sentenced to probation in lieu of jail time. Understanding all of the options available to you is something a local defense lawyer can help you with.

If you are charged with a crime and need assistance, contact us today to discuss your case and receive some potential valuable legal advice.

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In the first study of its kind, the Urban Institute found that police surveillance cameras in Chicago have had a noticeable impact on crime in the areas in which they are placed. The same couldn’t be said for Washington DC, however, and the report links the difference to the enforcement related to the cameras.

In cities who wholly integrate the cameras into their daily operations, crime should drop accordingly. The study, which looked at Baltimore, Chicago, and DC, showed this to be true. Both Baltimore and Chicago saw a drop in criminal activity in those areas where the cameras were while DC saw no significant change.

Chicago saw a drop of 12% in areas with cameras while Baltimore saw a decrease of 35%. The reason is that these two departments didn’t just hang cameras and go about business as usual, they actually staffed surveillance officers to monitor the cameras instead of only using them as an investigative tool after a crime had been committed.

Chicago police officers can actually link in to the cameras from their desk computers, watching the streets from in the department. The department hopes to make the technology available to officers on their Blackberry’s soon as well.

While officials in DC object to the findings, the research showed that their crime rates did fall in the areas with cameras but that they also fell in other areas throughout the city.

Chicago spend $.6.8 million on their camera system, with most of the money going to staffing.  But the program is said to save about $815,000 a month in criminal justice and victims’ costs.

Both Chicago and Baltimore credit their success with “saturating areas with as many cameras as possible and then aggressively pairing the technology with staffing,” according to The Crime Report. Simply hanging cameras and making the public aware of them wasn’t enough; they had to have real time enforcement and departmental integration for any significant impact to take place.

This study is interesting because there have been arguments on either side of the surveillance situation, with some saying there simply isn’t enough value in the cameras to justify the potential infringement on people’s privacy rights. If the research is legitimate, the findings are pretty remarkable.

What isn’t known is how the study arrived at the cost-benefits of the program. Did they account money saved to mean the officers who didn’t need to be on the streets because a camera was there in their place? Or are these savings strictly associated with the footage providing solid evidence in a criminal case, leading to a faster procession through the courts process?

The cameras, though they may be effective, are not fail-proof. If you are caught on camera committing a criminal offense, it doesn’t have to be the end of the road. Contact our offices today to discuss the details of your case.

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This week the city of Chicago released an online database that allows anyone to search for any criminal offense that occurred over the last 10 years. No other database like this exists in the country, as Chicago attempts to crawl out from under their reputation as being secretive and corrupt at even the highest levels of city government.

The database includes information from 2001 to the present. Though it was slated to be up and running by Wednesday, a search at the time of this blog post revealed the initial launch may have been delayed.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel has sought to make city government more transparent in an effort to earn the trust of the public. This is just one measure being taken to show the city is willing to share.

Not only will the database release what the criminal offense was, it will also list the address where it occurred, if there was an arrest and the case number, among other things. Though a complete report would be accessible online, this information is far more than any other departments are currently offering in this capacity.

According to MSNBC, Seattle’s database comes the closest to Chicago’s, though some of their information is incomplete. Los Angeles, on the other hand, only offers static reports or compilations of incidents. New York has some historical information online and publishes weekly data but that department has faced criticism for possibly manipulating such data to make it more favorable.

As with everything the city does, this database does have some critics, mostly those who say the online reports should include more details about the crime and the race of the suspects arrested to provide for truly thorough research materials. But others say this level of transparency is truly commendable.

Typically, if you are a member of the press or even conducting an academic study of crime patterns, you have to request this sort of information directly from the department using Freedom of Information Act requests. The city is looking forward to seeing a drop in these requests since much of the information will be available to anyone with Internet access.

For people who were either suspects or victims of these criminal offenses, it doesn’t seem that they have to worry about their personal information being online. No names will be listed in the database.

The stigma of being accused of a crime is embarrassing enough without having it readily available online for anyone to see indefinitely in the future. A criminal defense lawyer in Illinois may be able to help you in minimizing the impact of criminal charges, both legal and personal. If you are charged with a crime, contact us today to discuss how we might be able to help.

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Several local police departments have signed up to use the new website idthisperson.com in an effort to locate people they would like to speak with. Created by two police officers, the site offers a good incentive for people to speak up, paying a $25 gift card to the leads that actually pan out.

Police from Oswego, Aurora, Montgomery, St. Charles, and Yorkville are already on board, submitting photos of people walking through stores and standing at retail counters. No information is provided to the website visitors, aside from the photos. They aren’t told what the person is wanted for or the criminal offense they might be connected to. In some cases, the police say, the person is only wanted because they believe they might have information that can assist with a case.

Cops can’t do much with a grainy surveillance photo. Unless they know the person personally, the photo is typically used to verify other leads, but not as the key that leads police to a particular suspect. They are hoping this new site will encourage citizens to get online and share what they know.

The $25 gift certificate is sent out once the person has been identified and only if the tipster provides their email address. While most of the already submitted photos involve retail establishments, the Beacon News indicates it could be used for crimes of any kind. The website itself states that it is specifically interested in identity theft offenses.

Surveillance cameras were, at one time, a rare sight in a store. Now you can find them everywhere, from the grocery store to the street corner. Police frequently use cameras to not only prevent crime but also to potentially help solve it. Often the pictures on these cameras, however, are not high quality and make it difficult for the investigation to identify someone with any degree of certainty.

Still, we most often see these sorts of photos and video clips in relation to robberies and thefts at stores. Although you would think such a video would be a nail in the coffin for someone charged with a crime, that isn’t always the case. Discussing all of the evidence, including photos and videos, with a local defense attorney can help you understand your options and how you might be able to avoid the worst of the potential consequences you face.

Whether or not you were caught on camera, if you are facing a criminal charge, contact us today to discuss your case.

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Tiwanda Moore filed a report with the Chicago police department that she had been sexually harassed by an officer. When to police internal affairs officers came to investigate her claims, she felt they were trying to scare her into changing her report and dropping the allegations—so she recorded them. She was then charged with a felony for the recording and faced up to 15 years in prison.

This week Moore was acquitted by a jury. “The two cops came across as intimidating and insensitive,” according to one juror. “Everybody thought it was just a waste of time and that (Moore) never should have been charged.”

But she was. And another Chicagoan faces similar charges. Illinois is one of a few different states that makes it illegal to record public conversations unless everyone involved is aware of the recording. In most states, courts have ruled that citizens have done nothing wrong if the conversation is in public and could be heard by people passing by.

The Illinoi eavesdropping law has significantly higher penalties when one of the parties is law enforcement.

There is an exception in the eavesdropping law, an exception that saved Moore from prison. It allows for recordings when there is “reasonable suspicion” that a crime may be committed. Her attorney argued that the internal affairs officers were “dragging their feet” on the harassment investigation. Not handling a citizen complaint properly could be considered official misconduct, which is a criminal charge.

In the recording, the jury heard the officers telling Moore that she was wasting her time, that it was her word against the other officer’s. They also said that she would likely not have any additional problems with the officer if she dropped the complaint.

Moore went forward with her complaint, which is still under investigation. No charges were brought against the intimidating officers and one has actually been promoted since the recording took place.

In the past few years, issues of recording the police have come to the forefront as most people carry a recording device with them. Although the laws vary from state to state, civil liberties groups argue that citizens should be able to record the police when they are acting in an official capacity. After all, they are public servants and nothing they do (while working) should be considered private.

Facing charges for recording the police is quite rare. But it does happen and when it does, the potential penalties are very severe. 

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This week Governor Pat Quinn signed legislation to make it easier for local law enforcement to combat crime in these difficult financial times. “Every community in Illinois deserves the highest level of public safety, and law enforcement must have the tools to prevent, investigate, and fight crime,” Quinn said about the new laws. “These new laws help ensure that police departments throughout our state have the resources they need to fight drug and gang activity.”

House Bill 1258 will allow local law enforcement agencies to recover money spent in the investigation of drug crimes. From meth lab clean-up to responding to and investigating drug offenses, the costs can get pretty high. Cleaning up a single meth lab can cost up to $5,000. Once a conviction is reached in a drug case, the defendant can now be sentenced to pay fines and restitution to cover these costs.

According to the Associated Press, local agencies across the country have had to scale back on their meth investigations in particular, simply due to the money not being available like it once was. Illinois is considered in the top 10 of meth-producing states, along with Tennessee, Michigan, and others. As federal funding for local agencies has dropped significantly, so has their ability to go after meth labs.

There is ample evidence that meth is still a huge problem, despite the number of seizures dropping. In states who received federal money for meth lab seizures, the number of labs seized has fallen significantly with the drop in funding. For states who handled their own costs (like Illinois), seizures have soared. Illinois has seen a 36% increase in meth lab busts.

Though it’s not clear how much of the fines and restitution ordered will actually be collected, lawmakers are hopeful the new legislation will allow law enforcement across the state to stay on top of meth production and enforcement.

“Illegal drugs cost our law enforcement agencies thousands of dollars each year to investigate and secure controlled substance manufacturing sites,” said Senator Mike Noland (D-Elgin). “Our emergency response services should not bear these expenses, nor should Illinois taxpayers. It is time for convicted drug dealers to pay restitution for the work and materials that go into gathering evidence and securing sites left behind by manufacturing controlled substances.”

Another bill signed into law this week will allow local agencies to receive federal grants for gang prevention and intervention. Both laws will take effect January 1, 2012.

If you’re charged with a drug offense, particularly manufacturing meth, you can bet you will be prosecuted within every inch of the law. Having a defense attorney on your side during this time is crucial. Contact our attorney to discuss your case and the specific options you might have in fighting these charges.

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New numbers released from the Illinois Department of Transportation reveal what many minorities already knew—that Hispanic, Black, and Asian drivers are more likely to be ticketed and more likely to be searched when stopped by police. As a result, the ACLU has called on the U.S. Department of Justice to review how the state police handle such searches.

The study involved all traffic stops in Illinois. It found that when white drivers were stopped, they were ticketed 55% of the time. For Hispanics, the rate was 65%; and Blacks and Asians were ticketed 62% of the time.

When it came to “consent searches”, minorities were twice as likely to be searched. Consent searches occur when there is no legal cause for the search but the officer asks if he can search anyways. More than 95% of driver’s who are asked consent to such searches. In Chicago, the rate at which minorities undergo consent searches was about 6 times that of white drivers, though Chicago cops were more even handed when it came to ticketing.

Interestingly, even though minority motorists were searched more, assumingly because police thought they were more likely to have contraband in their possession, cops were more likely to find illegal things in the vehicles of white motorists. According to the Sun-Times, police found contraband in 24% of minority searches and 29% of white driver searches.

After the ACLU made their wishes known to the Department of Justice, Governor Pat Quinn asked the state police to review the issue themselves. Those results are expected in coming weeks.

It’s one thing to feel like you might be targeted because of your race but it’s another thing to see the numbers that prove that police do act in a racially skewed manner. But if you are subsequently arrested for something found in your car, for instance, the officer’s possible bias in asking you for a search is swept under the rug.

When you are faced with criminal charges, you want to know that you’ll be treated fairly. If it’s found that your rights were violated at any stage of the search or arrest, there’s a chance the evidence in a drug case for example, could be suppressed and the charges could be dropped. Looking out for these rights is the job of your defense lawyer. If you’re accused of a crime and unsure of what to do, contact our attorneys today for a free initial consultation.

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New legislation passed the state Legislature with overwhelming support. Now it awaits Governor Quinn’s signature—something that is likely inevitable. The bill would create a murderer registry, designed to track convicted murderers after they’ve been released from prison. While supporters believe the public have a right to know about their neighbor’s past, people who oppose the bill see it as an expensive tool with little real value.

The law will require those people convicted of first degree murder to register for 10 years after their release from prison. It will be retroactive to those people released from 2002 onward. These are all people who have served their time, though some may still be on parole.

The registry will function much the same as a sex offender registry, allowing the community to search an online database to see who might be living in their neighborhood. It will include the offender’s name, description, and address. Failure to register would be punishable in the criminal courts.

Several states currently have registries like this one for violent offenders. All track their sex offenders in a similar manner. But are the registries really serving any purpose or are they just giving people a false sense of security?

While one study showed that sex offender registration reduced recidivism, several others have stated otherwise. And contrary to the information we heard when those particular registries were created, sex offenders are some of the least likely to reoffend anyways.

Like sex offenders, murderers are also very unlikely to reoffend after serving time for killing someone. Only 1.2% of people who served time for homicide were arrested for another murder within 3 years of their release, according to this article with the Chicago Tribune.

“There is no denying there is a ‘Scarlet Letter’-type appeal to these laws,” says Wayne Logan, a FSU professor and author of a new book which examines registration laws. He points out that criminals were even physically branded like cattle as late as the 1800s under the same rationale as these registries, so that the public would know who was in their midst.

In modern days, lawmakers seem to downplay the costs of such registries and perhaps inflate their value rather than look soft on crime. Only one Illinois lawmaker rejected the registry. Representative Monique Davis (D-Chicago), voted against the measure saying that the cost of the registry would fall on already-strapped local agencies as they would have to track down and “catalog” these offenders.

Criminal registries are popular. But where should the line be drawn? Maine has proposed a drunk driver’s registry. Will someone suggest a felon-registry? And in the country with the highest incarceration rate in the world, many citizens might be surprised to learn just how many of their neighbors have been convicted of a serious crime.

If you are facing charges, whether they are as serious as murder or as relatively minor as DUI, you will encounter stigma associated with such criminal charges. People will judge you, even before your case goes to court. It’s at this time in your life that you need an advocate on your side. Contact our offices today for a free consultation on your criminal case.

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