To recap our story, Charles and Donna found their young daughter, Brianna, with her boyfriend after curfew, and a yelling match ensued in front of the family home. When James, the boyfriend, called the police out of fear for an escalating situation, the officers who arrived on scene ended up taking James himself into custody for drugs they found in his vehicle. After the chaos subsided, Brianna ran away from the family home, incurring scratches on her face as she...

To recap our story, Charles and Donna found their young daughter with her boyfriend after curfew, and a yelling match ensued in front of the family home. When James, the boyfriend, called the police out of fear for an escalating situation, the officers who arrived on scene ended up taking James himself into custody for drugs they found in his vehicle. After the chaos subsides, Brianna runs away from the family home, incurring scratches on her face as she does...

To recap our story, Charles and Donna found their young daughter with her boyfriend after curfew, and a yelling match ensued in front of the family home. When James, the boyfriend, called the police out of fear for an escalating situation, the officers who arrived on scene ended up taking James himself into custody for drugs they found in his vehicle. After the chaos subsides, Brianna runs away from the family home, incurring scratches on her face as she does...

To recap our story, Charles and Donna found their young daughter with her boyfriend after curfew, and a yelling match ensued in front of the family home. When James, the boyfriend, called the police out of fear for an escalating situation, the officers who arrived on scene ended up taking James himself into custody for drugs they found in his vehicle. After the chaos subsides, Brianna runs away from the family home, incurring scratches on her face as she does...

To recap our story, Charles and Donna found their young daughter with her boyfriend after curfew, and a yelling match ensued in front of the family home. When James, the boyfriend, called the police out of fear for an escalating situation, the officers who arrived on scene ended up taking James himself into custody for drugs they found in his vehicle. After the chaos subsides, Brianna runs away from the family home, incurring scratches on her face as she does...

To recap our story, Charles and Donna found their young daughter with her boyfriend after curfew, and a yelling match ensued in front of the family home. When James, the boyfriend, called the police out of fear for an escalating situation, the officers who arrived on scene ended up taking James himself into custody for drugs they found in his vehicle, and taking Charles into custody, as well, for suspected domestic battery, when his daughter was discovered with scratches on...

To recap our story, Charles and Donna found their young daughter with her boyfriend after curfew, and a yelling match ensued in front of the family home. When James, the boyfriend, called the police out of fear for an escalating situation, the officers who arrived on scene ended up taking James himself into custody for drugs they found in his vehicle, and taking Charles into custody, as well, for suspected domestic battery, when his daughter was discovered with scratches on...

Although he is not technically a part of the family, especially if Charles has anything to say about it, the first issue is the boyfriend’s arrest on drug charges. James seems like a good guy caught up in a bad situation. Of course he was nervous when the police showed up, but should he have given them permission to search his car? Was the search legal? What will happen to him now? Legally, the U.S. Constitution’s Fourth Amendment prohibits “unreasonable”...

Over the next few weeks, we will examine a story that is entirely fictitious. The legal issues presented in this fact patter represent some of the legal inquiries that we receive in our office every day. The Initial Story Assume that a middle-aged mother and father, Donna and Charles, along with their 13-year-old daughter with autism, Brianna, share a nice, yet not ostentatious, home in suburban Chicago. One night, the daughter comes home after curfew with her older boyfriend, James,...

You are sitting at your desk at work looking at the last bit of paperwork on a Friday at 3pm.  You look up past the pictures on your desk of your family in front of your home at a coworker as she enters the door of your office.  “Hey, it’s been a rough week.  Some of us are going to knock off early and go down the street to Sam’s  for happy hour.  They have $5 martinis.  Want to join...

There are significant restrictions to the Illinois carrying a concealed weapon law. For example, the Concealed Carry Licensing Review Board may deny licensure to any applicant if the Board determines that a law enforcement agency has “a reasonable suspicion that the applicant is a danger to himself or herself or others, or a threat to public safety.” Section 65 contains many restrictions, as well, because this is the provision that forbids even legally licensed gun owners from possessing a weapon...

As a rule of thumb, any judicial process that contains the word “summary” usually does not turn out well for individuals who are caught up in the process. DUI arrest-related Statutory Summary Suspension (SSS) is no exception, as these proceedings are almost impossible to avoid and almost as difficult to “win.” Especially in SSS proceedings, “win” is a relative term, and in fact, opposing these proceedings almost always yields a positive result. Technical Aspects Once the flashing lights appear in...

In a previous post, we discussed Statutory Summary Suspension (SSS) following a DUI arrest. One of the salient features of SSS is that, even if the driver does nothing, the state automatically reinstates the suspended license after expiration of the suspension period, payment of a reinstatement fee, and perhaps compliance with another odd rule or two. However, if that same person is convicted of DUI and has his or her drivers’ license revoked, that revocation is permanent, unless the driver...

Although most drivers provide either a breath or blood chemical sample, about 20% of DUI cases rely exclusively on circumstantial evidence. Sometimes, information gathered at the one-on-one or checkpoint stop, which we examined in a previous post, bleeds over into the next phase of the prosecution, which is probable cause for the arrest. Most probable cause evidence comes from the three scientifically-recognized field sobriety tests. Prior to the Stop Erratic driving is nearly always an issue, unless the officer pulled...

Most people move about 11 times during their lifetimes, and nearly all these moves occur before a person turns 40. So, a physical relocation of either the parents or the children often affects divorce and other family law orders, especially those that include child visitation provisions. Often, the parents execute side agreements about pickup times, dropoff locations, and other such matters. It is not unusual for these “agreements” not to be agreements at all, but rather a string of emails...