Republicans and Democrats have agreed on a measure that would increase the minimum sentence for some gun crimes while relaxing some drug crimes laws, so as to not overly inflate the prison population. Most of the 35 senators who voted in favor of the measure cited the spike in Chicago gun crimes as their motivation. A previous version of this bill stalled because of the variety of attitudes about gun crimes, depending on a person’s regional background and political affiliation....

Domestic violence protective orders are meant to be shields and not swords. In other words, the judge should grant a protective order to prevent domestic abuse, whether it is physical, mental, emotional, or otherwise. However, the judge should not grant a protective order just to punish the alleged abuser. While the vast majority of protective orders are granted, as they should be, there are some safeguards in place to ensure that the order is narrowly tailored to protect alleged victims...

Although the dreaded no-lookback provision does not come into play in first DUI cases, the

Since most any theft conviction is a near-automatic disqualifier for many jobs, the top priority in most retail theft cases is to keep these charges off the defendant’s permanent record. There are basically two approaches, and fortunately, both of them have a rather high probability of success. After the underlying case is resolved, expunction options should probably be explored, as well, if this remedy is available, in order to permanently remove the conviction as well as the accusation. Plea Bargain...

An aggressive St. Patrick’s Day weekend of anti-DUI enforcement, which included multiple police roadblocks throughout Chicagoland, ended with lots of people wearing jailhouse orange instead of Irish green. Now, as the calendar inches closer to May, police are no doubt planning another slew of checkpoints for Memorial Day Weekend. DUI roadblocks are a staple in Illinois. MADD, one of the most aggressive anti-DUI advocacy groups in the Midwest, believes that roadside checkpoints are one of the best ways to reduce...

Police arrested several aspiring actors and filmmakers after an extremely questionable search and seizure in Harvey. The video involved in the case includes footage of a 24-year-old man brandishing what appears to be a handgun while he is awaiting trial on another charge. During the

A pair of recent United States Supreme Court cases expanded police powers during an initial DUI stop, and since legal fights at this stage were already hard to win, it might seem that challenging the state’s evidence immediately before and after the stop is now a waste of time. However, as outlined below, this is not necessarily the case. The relevant legal doctrine is called the fruit of the poisonous tree. In this instant, the “tree” is the stop and...

In a previous post, we discussed successful strategies that can counter the state’s evidence with regard to intoxication, whether this evidence is direct or circumstantial. There are some other possible defenses, as well, and aggressive representation in these areas is often the difference between an undesirable result of a DUI charge and one that is far more palatable. In the everyday sense, “driving” is easy to define. In this context, most people, and most jurors, assume that the term means...

Four Lake County area men, several of whom may have only been peripheral participants in a drug transaction, now face homicide charges. The men face up to 30 years in prison each after authorities accused them of providing heroin laced with fentanyl to a Sugar Grove woman who was found dead in her home from an apparent overdose. Shortly after her body was found, investigators focused on the men as possible drug suppliers in the area. According to phone records,...

There is a world of difference between a license suspension and a conviction revocation. The state temporarily suspends drivers’ licenses based on DUI arrests; at the end of the suspension period, the defendants get their licenses back if they pay a reinstatement fee and meet some other nominal requirements. After a DUI conviction, the state permanently revokes the operator’s driver’s license, and the operator can only apply for reinstatement once the minimum revocation period has expired. In addition to completing...

There are generally two ways to win a DUI, as an attorney can engineer a plea bargain to a lesser included offense or challenge the state’s evidence at trial. Most cases involve a little bit of both. Over the past 25 years, DUIs have evolved from severe traffic tickets to one of the most serious offenses in the state. A DUI today often involves collateral consequences, like drivers’ license suspension and monetary cost. This change is especially apparent in Illinois,...

In a previous post, we examined the per se portion of the DUI law. Per se basically means “it is what it is” and there is no room for interpretation. For purposes of this section, if the defendant has a BAC above the legal limit, the defendant is guilty, even if the defendant was not “intoxicated” in the everyday sense of that word. However, in about 20% of DUI cases, prosecutors cannot use the per se provision because the defendant...

In most states, third DUIs are somewhat rare, due to the 10 or 15-year look back period. This means that a DUI will “fall off” a person’s record after the 10-15-year period, and any DUIs charged after that will not be considered subsequent offenses. In Illinois, prior convictions never “fall off” an offender’s record for DUI sentencing purposes, so an offense that everyone else has probably forgotten about often comes back to haunt defendants charged with DUI. Furthermore, even if...

State Rep. Elgie Sims, Jr. (D-Chicago) just introduced House Bill 3337, which would raise the felony theft threshold

What are some of the differences between a first DUI and a second DUI? The first major point is that Illinois has no conviction look-back period, which is one of the features that make DUI laws in the Prairie State so strict. Many states have a 10-year lookback period, so if a person has a first DUI in 2005 and is arrested again for the same offense in 2017, the new case is a “first” DUI for prosecution purposes. But...