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"I DON'T KNOW WHAT I WOULD HAVE DONE WITHOUT HIM..."
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"MY SON AND I ARE SO GRATEFUL FOR MR. FREIDBERG AND WHAT HE HAS DONE..."
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"DAVID IS A PHENOMENAL LAWYER AND HIS CHARACTER SPEAKS WONDERS..."
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"IF YOU NEED AN ATTORNEY IN CHICAGO, I WOULD RECOMMEND HIM IN A HEARTBEAT..."
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rawpixel-1055781-unsplash-1-300x201While charges of fraud are not exactly rare when it comes to political candidates, Chicago Alderman Proco “Joe” Moreno stands accused of filing a false police report to defraud his insurance company. This is generally not the kind of fraud charges that politicians face. Nonetheless, it is still illegal.

Authorities have charged Moreno with fraud and obstruction of justice after reporting his Audi A6 stolen. After Moreno had reported the car stolen, his girlfriend, Liliya Hrabar was pulled over by police while driving it. Hrabar herself was charged with criminal trespass. During the interrogation, Hrabar produced text messages indicating that Moreno had willingly lent her the car one day prior to filing the police report. The charges against Hrabar were subsequently dropped and Moreno was charged with filing a false police report, obstruction of justice, disorderly conduct, and insurance fraud.

According to police, Moreno attempted to file a $30,000 claim with his insurance company to replace the car. The police contacted the insurance company and found that he had given differing accounts of the theft. After Hrabar was caught, Moreno claimed that he had loaned the vehicle to her but could not get it back. Moreno then claimed that because she was a single mom, he just wanted to help her out and that the road to Hell is often paved with good intentions. For that reason, he reported it stolen.

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matt-popovich-60437-copy-300x162The Fourth Amendment of the Bill of Rights protects Americans against unlawful or capricious searches. It is a foundational restriction on government overreach. The Founders knew well the capacity for state-sanctioned violence and wrote specific rules into the Constitution to protect U.S. citizens. While some laud this as the foundation of liberty, others feel it is an encumbrance to justice. Two such officers will now stand trial for providing false or misleading information to judges in order to secure warrants against suspects. These officers stand accused of using the warrants not to bring criminals to justice but rather to steal their drugs and money.

Sgt. Xavier Elizondo and Officer David Salgado stand accused of civil rights conspiracy, among other things. Other officers and at least one judge, Mauricio Araujo, will take the stand for the prosecution. The trial is set to begin on October 7th of 2019.

System of “John Does” Questioned

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pepe-nero-88205-unsplash-copy-300x200The Chicago Sun-Times is reporting that the daughter of an Arlington Heights couple has been charged in the murder of her parents. According to police, Deborah Jane Martin stabbed her father and his wife to death multiple times a few hours after they had dinner with neighbors. Police appear to have recovered a journal in which the woman alludes to wanting to kill her parents. According to police, the journal contained multiple references to carrying out the murder including one as recent as six days before the incident.

Police also have a phone call from Anne Martin to 911 in which she sounds like she’s saying “No, Debbie” and the murder weapon was found in Deborah Jane Martin’s bedroom. The woman is being charged with first-degree murder.

How to Defend a Case Like This

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aaker-746547-unsplash-copy-300x200A 17-year-old is being charged with attempted sexual assault and two counts of aggravated battery. The woman was on the Old Plank Trail in Frankfurt when the attacker, Anthony M. Carbone, allegedly pushed her to the ground. The woman asked him what he was doing and Carbone apparently looked startled and then ran off.

Was this the act of a young man who suddenly came to his senses and realized what he was doing was wrong? Or is it the act of a young man who thought twice about a sex crime he was about to perpetrate?

The police determined at some point during interrogation that Carbone was attempting to rape the woman he knocked over. But the question of how they came about that information and why the man chose to flee instead of continuing to do whatever it was he was doing will complicate their case.

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mingyue-sun-153025-300x169A police video leaked on social media shows the murder of 24-year-old Brittany Hill while she shielded her baby from gunfire. Hill was exiting her sedan when a silver Chevy Impala pulled up alongside her, the occupants exited the car and then proceeded to open fire. The video was taken from a nearby surveillance camera. Hill was taken to West Suburban Hospital and later pronounced dead.

Two men have been charged in the shooting death.

While the police are calling the video’s release “unauthorized,” there are a number of reasons why a leak like this jeopardizes the men’s chance at a fair trial and benefit the prosecution’s case against them. The police claim that they have opened an investigation to determine the source of the leak.

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sawyer-bengtson-279792-copy-200x300Ald. Edward Burke has pleaded not guilty to charges of corruption including racketeering and bribery. The 59-page indictment accuses Burke of using his political office to steer business to his tax law firm. In addition, Burke is accused of blocking a plan to raise admission fees at a local museum because the museum had yet to deliver a chit involving an internship for a crony’s daughter.

Now, if you are a regular type of person, you are probably scratching your head. How is any of that illegal? It happens every day. Well, when you position yourself in the crosshairs of powerful people, just about everything can be made illegal. In this case, the alderman and others were the target of an ongoing federal sting that involved no small amount of intrigue.

Federal Investigation Targeted Chicago City Hall

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quentin-kemmel-445082-copy-300x200Juan Lopez, the man who gunned down a police officer and two hospital employees (one of whom was his former fiance) before turning the gun on himself, is now known to have had an order of protection filed against him by his ex-wife. The same day, the man entered her home, stole some of her property, and then destroyed everything else. His ex-wife told officers that the man responsible for destruction and theft had a key to the place and that she had a protective order issued for her husband. Detectives never questioned Lopez, however, who would have been the key suspect in any follow-up investigation.

Reports Unearthed Years After Shooting

The Chicago Tribune unearthed the report years after the shooting after an open records request. The details raised renewed concerns about how seriously law enforcement takes restraining orders. In this case, the wife had a restraining order against her husband and the husband appeared to violate that restraining order, in the process, committing a serious crime. However, police never followed up on the lead and Lopez went on to commit an even more serious crime.

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rawpixel-1055781-unsplash-1-300x201Kamel Harris, the man accused of killing and dismembering 2-year-old Kyrian Knox, was acquitted this week by a Chicago jury. The prosecution did not have a strong case against Harris, a fact we discussed in a recent blog post. The prosecution relied heavily on a patchwork motive that they generated out of a lack of possibilities.

Police claimed that Harris, who was looking after Knox “snapped one day” because the baby would not stop crying. Police claimed that the baby was lactose intolerant and was having a bad reaction to milk. However, Kyrian’s mother, Lanisha Knox, told jurors that her son had no such allergy.

Harris maintained his innocence throughout the trial. He contended that Lanisha Knox had sent three men in a van to collect her son from Harris and Harris lost track of the boy once he was in their custody.

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jaron-nix-1451678-unsplash-copy-225x300Michael Bailey was about to retire when prosecutors say that Antwon Carter attempted to steal the Buick he had bought himself as an early retirement present. Police say that Bailey attempted to defend himself, but Carter fired back. After Bailey’s wife, Pamela, heard the shots, she ran down the stairs and found her husband lying with his eyes open on the ground. He later died at the hospital.

While Bailey was off duty, he had just finished his shift and was still wearing his uniform when the altercation took place. The crime went unsolved for a year until inmates claim that Carter bragged about the shooting. The case is now a decade old.

Carter is being charged with felony murder, among other things.

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samara-doole-259144-unsplash-copy-200x300The body of 2-year-old Kirien Knox was found dismembered in Garfield Park Lagoon. The shocking details of the slaying moved those who witnessed the photos to tears. The man charged with the murder, Kamel Harris, has pleaded not guilty.

According to the prosecution, the boy’s mother, Lanisha Knox, left her son with Harris and five others at an apartment while Knox headed out to set up a new life in Iowa, get jobs, and find an apartment. At some point, Harris stopped responding to calls or texts made by Knox.

Police and the prosecution believe that, at some point, Harris “snapped” and murdered the boy and then tried to dispose of the body. However, they did not list a cause of death. They did, however, indicate that Harris snapped because the boy cried incessantly after a “painful reaction to milk.”

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