Posted on November 09, 2015 in Criminal Defense

The state of Illinois is cracking down on driving under the influence, and for good reason. Nearly 40,000 people are arrested annually in the state for driving while intoxicated, and around 300 people are killed each year in alcohol related driving incidents.

Before drinking and driving, drivers should be aware of the many consequences they could face. Most importantly, drivers could potentially harm themselves or harm others. Moreover, being arrested for a DUI is extremely expensive. Legal fees, fines, and higher insurance rates all make getting a DUI potentially crippling financially. Therefore, it is important to consider the following breakdown of the estimated costs of being arrested for a DUI in Illinois.

Hiring an Attorney/Legal Fees — It is estimated that hiring a DUI attorney costs at least $1,500. Depending on the extent of the charges, however, legal fees could be much higher. Spending thousands of dollars on a DUI attorney is not uncommon.

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 Posted on November 04, 2015 in Criminal Defense

For millions of Americans, social media is a part of daily life. Websites like Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and Instagram help make our large world smaller, bringing people together and allowing them to create and share content.

Most people use social media websites for innocent purposes; staying in touch with friends, sharing photos and videos, and accessing many different types of web content. For some, however, social media sites have taken up a different purpose. Thousands of gang members in the United States are using social media sites to share their message, antagonize rival gangs, and perpetuate violence.

Online Activity

It makes sense that gang members are using social media more frequently. Social media is especially popular with younger Americans, and with thousands of American youths involved in gangs, it was only a matter of time before sites like Facebook and Youtube became platforms for gangs.

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 Posted on November 02, 2015 in Criminal Defense

Many major US cities have noticed large spikes in the number of homicides this year, and government officials are wondering why. While violent crimes have steadily declined in America, this year's reported number of homicides in major cities like Chicago, New Orleans, and Cleveland have government offices worried, including the Obama administration.

Cities that have little in common, other than being large urban areas, are all experiencing significantly higher numbers of violent crimes than usual, and all within the last few months. While officials have yet to pinpoint a specific reason as to why this increase has occurred, experts have provided a few theories. Are the numbers simply reflective of a more violent than normal year, or do they indicate a larger problem?

The entire country has seen a decline in violent crimes over the past years. In the early 1990’s, drug problems led to incredibly high numbers of homicides in many major US cities, but since then homicide rates have declined steadily. While the numbers of homicides in major urban areas are still nowhere near where they were during the early 90s, there is reason for officials to be alarmed.

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 Posted on October 28, 2015 in Federal Crimes

Last night, the 2015 World Series got underway as the Kansas City Royals needed 14 innings to fend off the visiting New York Mets. By the time the game got started, however, the sports world and the Internet as a whole was abuzz with chatter about revelations made by a member of the last Mets team to win the Fall Classic. Former Major League Baseball All-Star Lenny Dykstra admitted in an interview this week that he spent more than half a million dollars on a scheme to blackmail umpires into giving him favorable calls during his playing days.

Shocking Information

The startling, yet completely unabashed, admission came during Dykstra’s appearance on The Herd, a weekday Fox radio/TV simulcast hosted by Colin Cowherd. The exchange was prompted by a comment from Cowherd suggesting that Dykstra “kept a book” on umpires, which in the context of the game can mean many things. Completely above board, a pitcher or batter would want to understand the way in which an umpire tends to call a game, and file that information away to be used appropriately. For Dykstra, however, “it was a little more than that.”

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 Posted on October 26, 2015 in Murder

A homecoming celebration turned tragic this past weekend when a car plowed into a crowd of spectators, killing four and injuring dozens. Three adults and a two-year-old child were killed when the vehicle driven by a 25-year-old woman suddenly crashed into a throng of people watching the Oklahoma State University homecoming parade on Saturday in Stillwater. The driver was arrested on charges of driving under the influence and was held over the weekend on four counts of second-degree murder. She is expected to appear in court this week for arraignment.

Murder Charges in Illinois

As the OSU community seeks to heal following the tragedy, the case may serve to highlight some important facets of criminal law here in Illinois. Charges for murder in Illinois can be brought against a defendant in the first or second degree. First degree murder is committed when a person kills another:

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 Posted on October 21, 2015 in Drug Crimes

With recent efforts to at least decriminalize marijuana, along with the introduction of a pilot program for the medical use of marijuana, Illinois seems to be remaining fairly contemporary regarding popular opinion about the drug. As one of 23 states with legalized medicinal marijuana, Illinois has stayed comfortably in the middle of the pack as it takes steps toward what many believe will be the ultimate legalization of recreational use. According to recent polling numbers, that is just what a majority of American would like to see.

Third Year in a Row

Noted polling organization Gallup reported that, for the third consecutive year, more than half of U.S. adults are in favor of making marijuana legal in this country. Gallup’s most recent numbers show that 58 percent of those polled support legalizing the drug’s use, tying 2013’s high-water mark. Polling numbers dipped 51 percent in 2014, but rebounded this year as the topic has gained momentum among 2016 presidential hopefuls.

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 Posted on October 19, 2015 in DUI

Before you were arrested on charges of driving under the influence, you probably failed or refused a blood alcohol content (BAC) chemical test. Such tests, while not the only criteria for determining your impairment, are administered to establish your BAC, and the penalties for failing or refusing them are administered by the Secretary of State’s Office.  They are applied separately from any sentence or penalties imposed as conditions of court supervision or as the result of a DUI conviction.

Statutory Summary Suspensions

Technically considered an administrative penalty as opposed to a criminal one, a statutory summary suspension applies to any driver who fails or refuses to submit chemical BAC testing. If you fail a breathalyzer, blood, or urine test for the first time, your driving privileges will be suspended for 6 months. A suspension of 12 months will be applied for subsequent failures. What constitutes a failed test depends upon the driver’s age and whether the vehicle is commercial or private. The legal BAC limit for a driver 21 or older operating a private vehicle is 0.08 percent, 0.04 percent for a commercial vehicle, and 0.00 for any driver under 21.

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 Posted on October 14, 2015 in Criminal Defense

You have probably seen it dozens of times on TV procedural dramas. A crime victim or potential witness stands behind a one-way mirror while a small parade of suspects are lined up for the purposes of identification. While not definitive evidence, the witness’s recognition of a suspect provides a basis for the continuing investigation. In the real world, lineups are also used in criminal cases to help narrow down a suspect list and, sometimes, as a form of testimony. Unfortunately, however, eyewitnesses are not always reliable sources of information and mistakes have led to the conviction of many innocent suspects. That is why the state of Illinois has developed a statutory procedure for lineups which took effect at the beginning of this year.

Photographic Lineups

Unlike the common television trope, most lineups in Illinois utilize photographs, although live lineups are still used in some cases.  However, “cognitive bias” by the lineup’s administrator, including subconscious cues or body language, can unintentionally affect the results of such procedures. To combat such influences, the new law requires law enforcement departments to have an independent administrator conduct the lineup. The administrator must be an individual with no knowledge of the case or the identity of the suspects. In addition, the lineup must be recorded on video whenever possible to ensure compliance with proper protocols.

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 Posted on October 12, 2015 in Drug Crimes

It has been more than 21 months since the Illinois medical marijuana pilot program officially went into effect. However, the program, which was designed to provide insight into how the state and society would be affected by medicinal use of the drug, has yet to offer any type of usable data since dispensaries have not had any product to make legally available. The wait, it seems, is just about over. At least one grower is reportedly beginning to harvest the first legally-grown crop of marijuana in the state, and officials indicate that dispensaries around the state will soon be able to offer registered participants the opportunity to purchase it.

Licensed Growers Only

The measure officially legalizing the use of medicinal marijuana was signed into law on August 1, 2013, by then-Governor Pat Quinn. The Compassionate Use of Medical Cannabis Pilot Program Act went into effect on January 1, 2014, and those with qualifying conditions began talking to their doctors about participating in the program. To date, more than 3,000 applications have been processed by the Department of Public Health, but due to bureaucratic delays and ongoing legal battles, production did not begin until earlier this spring.

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 Posted on October 07, 2015 in BAIID

What do you get when you cross an intoxicated Navy sailor, an ignition interlock device, and raccoon? Well, if you believe everything you read on the internet, you get a creative way to start a car and very angry furry passenger. Although highly entertaining, it turns out that the story, like so many others in recent years, was the result of an active imagination, subsequently overshared and under-verified.  Various news outlets have since confirmed the viral account as a hoax, albeit with no small measure of amusement.

All From a Single Image

The story began with a post on the picture-sharing site Imgur, which allegedly showed an incident report originating at Camp Pendleton in San Diego, California. According to the report, a Navy petty officer left a bar and needed to start his personal vehicle which was equipped with a breath alcohol ignition interlock device (BAIID). Too drunk to meet the device’s requirements, he supposedly captured a raccoon rummaging in a trashcan nearby, and squeezed its body to provide the breath sample needed by the BAIID to start the car, leaving the animal unconscious. The man, the story continued, left the raccoon in the vehicle and began driving. A short time later, the animal regained consciousness and attacked the driver, causing an accident that ended up with the vehicle in an in-ground swimming pool.

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